How Are We Related Again?
by do i need a pen name
Summary: Kim had a daughter. Tommy has a new little sister. How are those two things connected? You'll just have to read to find out...COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

****

**A/n-just a random idea for a story that came to me one day during lunch. and a warning, listening to liberal vs. conservative conversations during lunch can give you strange ideas for stories. not that i think this story is strange mind you.**

Disclaimer-As I have just discovered that I am too lazy to write disclaimers for the entire story, know that I do not, in any way, shape, or form, own the Power Rangers or anything related to them. That's all.

How Are We Related Again?

Chapter One

"I love you, baby girl." Kim said softly to the baby in her arms. "I will always love you. Never forget that."

She looked up to see a middle-aged woman standing before her.

"Are they here?"

"They're in another room." The other woman informed her. "They've signed all of the necessary papers, and are waiting anxiously. They can't wait to meet her."

"You're sure she'll be safe with them?" Kim questioned. "They'll be good parents?"

"Your daughter will have a loving home, Miss Hart." The woman said consolingly. "I've looked carefully into their records. They've previously adopted another baby through our agency. So your daughter will have an older brother, and loving parents."

Kim cast one last look at the baby now peacefully sleeping in her arms. Then she looked back up at the woman from the adoption agency. Kim smiled sadly.

"You should take her now. Take her to meet her new parents."

Kim handed her daughter over to the woman.

"Are you quite sure you don't want to meet them?" The woman questioned Kim. "They said they would be more than happy to talk with you, make you feel more comfortable about giving them your daughter."

Kim shook her head profusely. "I can't do that. Please, just take her to them. I trust your judgement of them."

The woman exited the room, carrying the small baby in her arms.

"Mommy will always love you…" Kim whispered softly to the empty room. "…Always."

* * *

"Charlize Renée." The woman said promptly when she looked at the little girl who had just been placed in her arms. "We'll call her Charlie for short."

"Whatever you like dear." The man next to her said. He looked up at the adoption agency woman. "Is her mother quite sure that she doesn't want to meet us? Make sure that her daughter is safe?"

"She thought it would be best if she didn't meet you. She doesn't want to suddenly change her mind, and decide to take the baby back. I told her all about you though. She seems to think that you'll be excellent parents. I told her all about your son."

"I can't wait for Tommy to meet his new little sister." The 'new' mother said a little while later, as the couple was preparing to take their daughter home.

"He'll love her." The father agreed, gazing down at his sleeping baby daughter.

So together, the happy little family left the hospital, off to meet the older brother.

****

Four And A Half Years Later

"Tommy!" Charlie shrieked, running through the house to her older brother, who had just come home. "I missed you so much!"

"Hey Charlie." Tommy said in a much softer voice. "Are mom and dad home?"

"Nope." Charlie said, shaking her head. "They had to go somewhere, and they called Trini to play with me. And we are having so much fun. We played with my dolls, and we played dress up. Now Trini's making us dinner, cuz mommy and daddy aren't home yet."

Together, the two siblings walked back through the house, to find Trini in the kitchen.

"Hey Trini." Tommy said. "I didn't know you baby-sat."

Trini looked up from the macaroni she was stirring. "Well, if someone weren't so late coming home, then I wouldn't have had to. But we had fun, didn't we Char?"

Charlie nodded her head eagerly.

Once the food was done cooking, Trini put some in a bowl and placed it in front of the young girl, who ate it eagerly. Tommy looked thoughtfully at the young girl.

"She reminds me of someone." He said absently to Trini. "I just don't know who."

Trini shot a quick glance at Tommy, then looked to Charlie. "Yeah, me too." She said slowly.

Trini had been thinking about this for a while actually. Ever since she had met the little girl really, which had been a few years ago. Charlie had been almost a year old, and Trini, Zack, and Jason had just gotten home from the Peace Conference.

__

Flashback

__

"Ooh, look." Jason said eagerly. "There's Mrs. Oliver. Tommy said she was gonna come pick us up."

__

"That was so nice of her." Trini said.

__

"Hey, is that a kid with her?" Zack questioned. "Tommy didn't say anything about his parents adopting another kid."

__

"Maybe he forgot." Jason offered. "I mean, this is Tommy we're talking about."

"Come on." Trini said impatiently. "I bet she's waiting for us."

The three teenagers walked over to their long-time friend and former teammate's mother, who happened to be holding onto the handles of a stroller with a young girl in it.

"Hello Mrs. Oliver." Trini said pleasantly. "It was so nice of you to come pick us up."

"It wasn't a problem dear." Mrs. Oliver replied. "You three are some of Tommy's closest friends. It was the least I could do." She gestured to the little girl in the stroller. "This is Tommy's little sister, Charlie. She'll be a year old next week."

"She's beautiful." Trini said in awe. "She and Tommy even have the same eyes."

Mrs. Oliver smiled. "I know, I think it's so nice that the two of them resemble each other. It will do both of them good when she's a bit older."

Jason, meanwhile, was staring intently at the little girl in the stroller. "You know, she looks like someone else I know, as well. I just can't think of who."

Zack nodded his agreement, but Trini didn't say anything. She just glanced at the little girl and let Jason's words, and Mrs. Oliver's as well, replay themself in her mind.

Something didn't match up here.

As the group of five walked, with one being pushed, out of the airport, Trini mulled things over in her mind. She knew she should recognize that baby from somewhere. She just looked so familiar. But who was it she looked like?

End Flashback

Yes, who was it that this adorable little girl looked like?

She had grown up to look even more like her adoptive older brother, but still, there was some resemblance there.

Resemblance to someone else that is.

But who?

Trini was startled from her thoughts by the ringing of the phone on the kitchen wall.

"I'll get it." Tommy announced. He walked over to the phone. "Hello?"

Trini turned back to Charlie. "Are you done eating already?"

Charlie gave Trini her big smile. "I'm ready for dessert."

Trini smiled back at the little girl. "I guess you could have something. What do you want?"

Before she could answer however, Tommy walked back over to the pair at the kitchen table. His face was an ashen white color. He looked as if he had just seen a ghost. All thoughts of dessert were driven from both girls' minds.

"Tommy?" Charlie said in a small voice. "Are you okay?"

Tommy looked sadly at his little sister. Trini noticed they were full of unshed tears.

"Charlie," Tommy said slowly, "I think we need to talk about mommy and daddy."

"What about them?" Charlie questioned. "Do you know where they are? They've been gone for ages. When are mommy and daddy coming home?"

"Charlie." Tommy said again. "Mommy and daddy aren't coming home."

****

One Week Later

"I'm so sorry for your loss."

"I'm so sorry for your loss."

"I'm so sorry for your loss."

It was the same thing, over and over again. People kept coming up to the two siblings and saying that. It had meant a lot to Tommy that so many people had come to his parent's funeral, but he was going to go crazy if someone said that one more time.

"Hey, bro." Jason said, coming up to Tommy. "How are you guys holding up?"

Tommy shook his head. "I still can't believe that they're gone. But I don't think it's sunk in for Charlie yet that they really aren't going to come back."

Jason nodded sympathetically. "Poor kid. It's gonna be so hard on her. She's only four."

Out of nowhere, it seemed, Charlie appeared.

"Are you talking about me? Cuz you know, I'm four and _half_. Not four. Four and a _half_."

A small grin crept up on both men's faces.

"Sure you are, kid." Jason said. Charlie stuck her tongue out at him.

"Hey, Char," Tommy said suddenly, "Aren't you supposed to be with Trini? She said the two of you were going to hang out together."

Charlie tilted her head at an angle, thinking, as if confused about something that Tommy had said. The gesture was so familiar, but Tommy just couldn't place it.

"Yes." Charlie answered finally. "But I left them."

"Them?" Jason questioned.

Charlie nodded. "There was another girl. She started talking to Trini. And Trini was so happy to see her. I think they're friends."

She added this last part in a whisper. As if it was some secret that she wasn't supposed to share.

"Do you know who she was?" Tommy asked amusedly.

Charlie thought for a moment. "Trini called her...Kimberly? Yeah, she called her Kimberly!"

Tommy gulped, and Jason's eyes went wide with shock. The two men turned to look at each other.

"I think I'll just stay here." Tommy muttered. "You go, Jase. Char, you stay here with me. There's something I want to talk with you about."

Charlie looked expectantly up at her older brother. He took a deep breath.

"Char, you know how at school I'm always reading books and working with stuff about dinosaurs?" Charlie nodded. "Well, I got this job. I'm gonna go on this dig. You know…dig for dinosaur bones."

"That sounds so cool!" Charlie said in awe. "I wanna come."

"You do?" Tommy questioned, shocked.

Charlie nodded fervently. "That's sounds like so much fun. You get to find dinosaur bones. I always ask mommy if I can go look at your bones, but she says no all the time."

Tommy smiled sadly. "Well, I want you to come with me this time. What do you think?"

A huge grin lit up Charlie's face. "Really? You really mean it? I can come with you?"

Tommy nodded. "I really mean it, so you want to come?"

"Yes!" Charlie shrieked.

Tommy smiled again. "We're going to leave tomorrow, is that O.K. with you?"

Charlie nodded. "Can I go tell Trini? She's gonna be so happy for me. She always said that one day mommy would let me go with you to see dinosaurs."

"I suppose you can." Tommy said as Charlie took off running. _Too bad mom couldn't be here to be the one to say you could go._


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n-the stuff that happened in the dino thunder series obviously isn't going to stay exactly the same, 'specially cuz i can't remember like anything that happened and i'm too lazy to look it up.**

****

Chapter Two

Five and A Half Years Later

"Oh come on Tommy!" A now ten-year-old Charlie Oliver begged her older brother. "Do we _have _to move? Why can't we just stay at the University, and go on more digs?"

Tommy sighed. "Charlie, I've already explained this to you like a thousand times. I was offered a great position at the high school in Reefside, and the University is the last place I want to be right now. Besides, Hayley lives in Reefside. And she has this café there. You'll love Reefside, I promise."

"Do I get to keep taking gymnastics?" Charlie questioned. "Because if I don't, then I'm gonna run away and go live with Uncle David."

"Charlie, you can't do that now, because you just told me exactly where you are going to go." Tommy paused for a moment. "And I called Hayley, she said a new gymnastics place just opened."

"Yes!"

"Now, lets get everything packed up." Tommy ordered. "We have to get to our new house."

****

The Next Day

Charlie fell backwards onto the bed, it was the only piece of furniture in her new room so far. Yet the day had already been deemed a tiring one. And it was barely even lunchtime.

"Charlie!" Tommy called up the stairs.

"What?" Charlie called back.

"Lunch is here."

With that, Charlie got up from her bed, no longer tired, and sprinted out of the room and back downstairs. When she got to the kitchen, she was rather surprised by what she saw. But pleasantly surprised at that.

"Jason! What are you doing here?" Charlie asked. Before he could answer, she rounded on her brother. "And I bet you knew about this, didn't you? Why didn't you tell me?"

Tommy mock sighed. "Those are the duties of an older brother. Besides," He continued, "Aren't you glad to see Jason?"

"Of course I'm happy to see Jason." Charlie said. "I'm always happy to see Jason. He's way more interesting than you are, Tommy. So, where's lunch?"

As Charlie attacked the food Jason had brought over for them all to eat, Jason turned to Tommy. Who, was looking at Charlie with a rather strange expression on his face. Almost exactly like the one on Jason's, really. An expression that said this girl reminded them both of someone they had both known and, in their own ways, loved.

Charlie reminded both men so much…of Kim.

* * *

"And I'm sure you'll be very comfortable with this place Ms. Hart." The real estate agent said for about the thousandth time that day. "Since you have all of your stuff set up now, and all the paperwork has been finalized, I think my job is done."

Kim smiled tightly. "Yes, it was a pleasure meeting you. Have a nice day."

"You as well Ms. Hart." The real estate agent said, as she exited the building, which now bore the plain, and very boring, name of: Gymnastics Studio.

Kim turned around and walked back into the main area of the studio. There, she found her best friend, Trini Kwan, busily going around to all of the newly bought equipment, examining it, and then making notes on her clipboard. Trini looked up when she heard the sound of Kim's footsteps.

"She finally leave?" Trini asked. Kim nodded. "Thank goodness. If she said one more thing about being comfortable, or anything else at all, I think I might have been forced to take drastic action and kill myself."

"Now Trini," Kim began with a slight smile in her eyes. "How would it look to prospective students if they came to sign up for classes and heard you talking like that?"

"Well, to me it would look like you just made a really bad investment." Trini offered. "Not really sure about them. And speaking about them, I think I just heard the door slam shut."

"Reminds me of Jason when he used to come over to my house all the time, back in high school." Kim said. "It kills me how that boy doesn't know how to shut a door properly."

"You know what would be really creepy?" Trini asked, as they heard voices and footsteps approaching the main gym.

"What?" Kim asked.

"If that really was Jason." Trini said.

"Yeah, cuz Jason is really gonna come sign up for gymnastics lessons." Kim said sarcastically.

"I always wanted to give life as a gymnast a try." A very familiar sounding voice said from the doorway.

The two life-long friends turned around to find none other than Jason Scott, the man they had just been discussing, standing in the door.

"JASON!" Kim exclaimed. She ran over and nearly tackled him with a bone-crushing hug.

"I haven't seen you in ages. I've missed you so much!"

"Me too." Trini cut in. Then she gave him a weird look. "Why are you here? There is no possible way that you could know this way Kim's place."

"Not even on the inside." Jason agreed. "Not a single dot of pink."

"I aim to change that." Kim said quickly. "As fast as possible. But seriously, why are you here?"

"I'm psychic." Jason said.

"You mean you knew we were here?" Trini questioned. "Not possible."

"No." Jason said. "I mean I know a girl who loves gymnastics with all her heart, but was just forced by her annoying and rather tardy-prone older brother to move to Reefside. Oh yeah, and I knew that she wanted to come sign up for gymnastics lessons. So here we are. Charlie, come here."

Out of nowhere, it seemed, a young girl of about ten stepped into the gym as well. Trini gasped when she saw the girl. Except for those familiar-looking chocolate brown eyes, the girl was an exact replica of Kim at that age. And judging from Kim's uncharacteristic silence, apparently she had noticed this as well. Finally, Trini seemed to find her voice.

"Well Kim, it would appear that you have your first student." Trini said. She turned back to the girl. "So, what's your name?"

The girl smiled at her shyly. Yet another Kim characteristic. Who was this girl?

"Charlize Oliver. But you can call me Charlie." She answered.

So that's where those eyes seemed familiar from. She was the little girl Trini used to baby-sit for when Tommy was running late, as usual.

Jason turned to his two friends. "You know Charlie, Trini. She's Tommy's little sister. They just moved to Reefside."

Kim paled visibly. Jason and Trini didn't seem to notice, but Charlie did. However, she didn't say anything. About that.

"Trini?" Charlie asked, after looking away from the now silent Kim. "As in the Trini who Tommy always talks about in all of his rather horribly-told stories about high school?"

Trini smiled wistfully. "We went to high school together, and I used to babysit for you when you were little. But back in high school, me and Tommy were constantly together because we were both-"

"Best friends…with Kim here." Jason cut in.

Trini bit her lip. How could she have almost just let their biggest secret slip? It was this girl. She just reminded Trini so much of Kim. She had felt like she was actually talking to Kim.

Charlie smiled at this. "He talks about his high school friends all the time. It gets a bit annoying really, 'cuz he never talks about anything else. Seriously, Tommy needs a life."

Trini nodded. "That sounds just like Tommy. Man, I haven't seen him for ages. What's your brother up to these days, Charlie?"

"He's a paleontologist." Charlie answered. "We go on tons of digs, it's so much fun. But he got a job teaching high school science, so the two of us had to move here."

"Which reminds me," Trini continued, "how have the two of you been holding up together?"

Charlie smiled. "We're just great. He lets me do lots of stuff mom would have never let me do. But we still miss them, of course."

Meanwhile, while they had all been talking, Kim had slipped away unnoticed. The appearance of this girl in Reefside had brought some memories back to the surface.

Memories that Kim had tried so hard to forget. They were of the past she had tried so hard never to think about. And it wasn't good to dwell on the past. But there was always a chance…

A chance that this girl, who resembled Kim so much, wasn't the baby she had given up ten years ago.

A chance that that Kim would never have to see Tommy here, and have to explain to him about the baby.

A chance that no one would ever find out about the baby at all. After all, she had been keeping it a secret for the past ten years. More than ten, really. But no one would find out.

No one.

Kim went to her office and grabbed a medical form that Charlie would need to have filled out before she could start lessons and brought it back to where everyone else was still standing, before she could be missed. After Kim had explained everything on the form to Jason, he and Charlie left. Kim closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths. When she opened them again, Trini was gazing at her with a concerned look in her eyes.

"Are you alright?" Trini questioned.

Kim nodded. "Just tired, you know? All that hard work getting everything set up today."

Trini nodded as well. "What about Charlie? You know, I used to baby-sit for her a bit when she was a lot younger, but she's really changed. She looks...well, she looks a lot like...you."

"Yeah, kind of." Kim agreed half-heartedly. _There's still a chance that no one will ever find out though...There's always a chance..._


	3. Chapter 3

**a/n-sorry if the timeline in this story seems a little out of order, or the dates are too close to each other. it just the way things worked out.**

****

Chapter Three

"TOMMY!" Charlie hollered as she burst through the front door of their new house. "WE'RE BACK!"

"Way to make an entrance, kid." Jason said in a much quieter voice as he followed her into the house. "But I'm not sure the people in China heard you."

Before Charlie could reply, Tommy walked into the room.

"So, you find the gymnastics place alright?" He asked.

"Yep." Charlie said with a nod of her head. "And guess who was there?"

"Who?"

"Trini!" Charlie said excitedly. "And another lady. It was her gymnastics studio. Oh, what was her name again Jase?"

Jason glanced at Tommy with a grim expression on his face. "Kimberly Hart."

Tommy's face paled visibly, but Charlie didn't seem to notice at all.

"Yeah, that's right. Where does that name sound familiar from, anyway? Oh well, she was really nice, but she didn't talk much. And she said she knew you back in high school. So, did you know her? Huh, did'ya?" Charlie questioned rapidly.

"Erm...yeah." Tommy said hesitantly. "Hey, Char, why don't you go...organize your room or something. All your stuff is up there now."

"Ooh, yay!" Charlie said excitedly, already halfway up the stairs. "I miss my stuff."

Jason shook his head slightly as she disappeared. "Kind of scary really, how much she reminds me of...Kim. You know?"

"Yeah." Tommy said shakily. He walked into the living room and collapsed onto the couch. After a moment, he looked back up at Jason, who had followed him into the room. "Was it really her, Jase? Kim, I mean? Is she gonna be Charlie's new coach?"

"Yes." Jason said promptly. There was a moment of brief internal battle, before a determined look appeared on Jason's face and he continued, "Look, dude, did you ever try to at least contact her after...you know, the letter?"

"No." Tommy sighed and looked down at his hands. "I was in shock. Man, I loved Kimberly. And she just threw it away. In a _letter_."

Jason nodded sympathetically.

"And by the time I got over it," Tommy continued, "Mom and dad had adopted Charlie. That just pushed everything out of my mind. Then we got our Turbo powers, and Divatox captured you and Kim. And then I saw her for the first time." Tommy paused, and looked up at Jason again. "Bro', that was hard. Seeing her with you, when I was still a ranger. And she acted like nothing was wrong when she was around me. It was almost as of _we_ never happened. I spent the rest of the time you were in Angel Grove trying to avoid her."

"Yeah." Jason agreed, speaking up now. "You _did_ spend a lot of time with Charlie that weekend. Of course, that was before you ever told me you had a baby sister." He added as an afterthought.

"But it didn't work." Tommy said hollowly, ignoring the jab at his memory issues. "Every time I looked at her, she reminded me of Kim. Jase, it was like I was actually looking at Kim. It was scary."

Jason was silent in thought for a moment. "You know, I've thought about that a bit, as well. Charlie does look an awful lot like Kim."

"Yeah." Tommy said distractedly, not paying Jason, or what he was saying, a bit of attention. "Look, just...I don't know, take her to the practices for me for awhile, would you?"

"No problem, bro'." Jason said. "I knew there was some sort of reason I agreed to move in with you two. I would have thought I was crazy, otherwise."

A shadow of a grin appeared on Tommy's face.

"Well, I better go call Hayley. I told her we'd stop by sometime. And she has to help me with the you-know-what." Tommy said, speaking the last bit softer, and in 'code'. Which really didn't do any good, because if someone was listening to the conversation, and someone was, then it would just make them more curious about what their older brother-_ahem_ what _Tommy_ was trying to hide.

* * *

"This place looks good." Trini said randomly pulling Kim towards a building that looked as if it sold food. "Come on, I'm starving. I need nourishment!"

"Ugh, you sound like Rocky." Kim replied. "Rocky with a higher intelligence, level that is."

"Good." Trini said. "Now, get in."

Kim obediently walked through the door, ahead of Trini.

"What's this place called, anyway?" Trini asked no one in particular.

"Hayley's Cyberspace Cafe." Kim answered promptly.

"Hayley's Cyberspace...?" Trini repeated dazedly. "No way. It couldn't be..."

Just then, they got a good look at the counter, through all of the people in the place. There was a woman with red hair standing behind the counter, serving beverages.

"Hayley!" Trini practically shouted.

The woman at the counter looked up in surprise. A look of recognition crossed over her face. She quickly handed the two people in front of her their smoothies, and walked out from behind the counter, leaving her employees to deal with the crowd.

"Trini?" Hayley questioned when she was standing before the two former rangers. "Is that you?"

"Yeah." Trini said, throwing her arms around Hayley's neck. "I haven't seen you in ages."

"I know." Hayley said, hugging her back. After a moment, they broke apart, and Hayley turned to Kim. "And who are you?"

"This is Kim." Trini said quickly. "She's one of my friends from Angel Grove."

Hayley pursed her lips, and a forced smile appeared on her face. "How...nice, to meet you, Kim."

"Um, you too." Kim said hesitantly, noticing Hayley's hostile expression.

Hayley turned back to Trini.

"You'll never believe who just called me." Hayley said.

"Was it Tommy?" Trini asked. "We just came from Kim's gym, and Charlie signed up for lessons. So, is he coming over?"

"Yeah, you read my mind." Hayley said with a smile. "He should be here any minute."

Just then, Charlie walked in the door, closely followed by Jason. The young girl quickly spotted Hayley through the crowd.

"Hayley!" Charlie exclaimed, running over and giving the woman a huge hug. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

"I've missed you too, kid." Hayley said. "Where's your brother?"

"He's parking the car." Jason answered.

"Nice to see you too, Jason." Hayley replied with a smile. Jason grinned back and turned to Kim and Trini.

"So, long time no see, huh?"

Trini rolled her eyes. "I _know_. We haven't seen you in positively _ages_."

Jason glanced down at his watch. "A whole thirty eight minutes. These long-term separations are really driving me insane."

Charlie giggled. "Jase, what's taking Tommy so long?"

"Eh, he probably got lost." Jason said nonchalantly. Trini nodded her aggreance as Tommy finally walked into the cafe. He quickly spotted the group, standing right in the middle of the place, but stopped dead when he saw Kim standing there with everyone else.

Kim's face visibly paled. "Oh, look." She said suddenly. "Computers."

She quickly wandered off to the computer terminals, just as Tommy made up his mind, turned around, and walked swiftly out of the cafe.

"Well, that wasn't awkward at all." Jason commented. "I'll go after him."

Trini glanced at Kim, who had abandoned the computers after her first glance, and was now sitting at an empty table furiously searching her phone for what was probably a number.

"I think I'll leave Kim alone, for now." Trini said slowly. "She looks...busy."

Meanwhile, over at Kim's table, she had finally found the number she was looking for. Pressing the send button, she hurriedly put the phone up to her ear.

"Hello?" The pleasant voice of a middle-aged woman said. "This is the Angel Grove Adoption Agency, how may I help you?"

"Um, hello." Kim said. "I-I was wondering if you could help me with something. You see, about ten years ago, I gave my daughter up for adoption. And I was just wondering if I could maybe just know who adopted her. When I did it, they said I could meet the parents then, but I didn't want to. So, is it possible?"

"Yes." The woman said slowly. "Just so long as your intentions are only to make sure you know where she is, and nothing else."

"That's all." Kim promised.

"Okay, then." The woman said. "I'll need your name and the date of the birth and the adoption."

After Kim gave her the necessary information, the woman was silent for a moment looking the data up.

"It would appear that your daughter was adopted by couple with the last name Oliver." The woman finally said. "They were from Angel Grove, and our records state that they named her Charlize Renee Oliver."

Kim swallowed. "Thank you. It really means a lot to me."

"No problem." The woman replied. "I hope you have a nice day."

"You too." Kim said before hanging up.

With a shaking hand, Kim put the phone back in her purse. This was not good. This was definitely not good.

Her little girl. Her beautiful little girl that no one had ever known about. Tommy's parents had adopted her. Kim knew that Tommy's parents were dead, had been at their funeral. She had seen the little girl there, who had clung to Tommy. That little girl who had resembled him so much.

This was all too much for Kim to handle.

What was she going to do now? She would be able to see all three of them, the family they could have made together. She was going to be her baby's gymnastics coach. She was going to be able to see her little girl grow up, in a way. But her precious baby girl would never know that...

Would she?

**a/n-just for the record, i have no idea if an adoption agency would ever do that, probably not. so, don't go yelling at me that it was all wrong. trust me, i know. but it fit in well with the story, didn't it? anyway, more kim and tommy next chapter. hey, maybe i'll update sooner this time...**


	4. Chapter 4

**disclaimer-power rangers are not mine.**

**Chapter Four**

"Tommy, would you keep secrets from me?" Charlie asked during dinner one day, about a month since they had moved to Reefside.

Tommy looked up, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Ifyouwereapowerrangerwouldyoutellme?" Charlie asked quickly.

"What?" Tommy said. "I didn't quite catch that."

Jason snorted in laughter. Tommy glared at him.

"If you were a...power ranger, would you tell me?" Charlie asked.

The pizza that Jason had been lifting to his mouth fell back to his plate with a _thunk, _while Tommy choked on his drink.

"A _power ranger_?" Tommy asked after a moment. "Where did you get that idea?"

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Did you have to pay extra for the secret laboratory-like-thing under the house?"

"How do you know about that?" Tommy asked suspiciously.

"It was kinda hard to miss." Charlie commented. "You know, a gaping hole in the kitchen floor. You didn't honestly expect me to miss _that_, did you?"

"There was a gaping hole in the kitchen floor?" Tommy questioned darkly. "Conner is so dead."

"That's another thing." Charlie said. "The first week of school just ended, yet you have three teenagers, who happen to be your students, hanging around all the time. How weird is that?"

"Dude." Jason said, shaking his head. "She's smart. And seriously, that is kinda creepy, having three of yor students here. But if it makes you feel better, we don't think they know who me and Charlie are."

Tommy turned to face Charlie. "You have to promise not to repeat what I'm about to tell you to _anyone_, understand?"

Charlie nodded eagerly. Tommy sighed.

"I first became a ranger when mom, dad, and I moved to Angel Grove. I was the first green ranger."

"_Evil_ green ranger." Jason corrected. He winked at Charlie. "I was the red ranger. The _first_ red ranger."

Tommy rolled his eyes now. "Anyway, it was just a spell. That _you_ broke, Jase. I lost the powers not long after that, but I came back as the white ranger. After we lost those powers, I became the white ninjetti ranger. Your Uncle Jase was gone from the team by then."

"It was after he lost the ninjetti powers that he committed a terrible crime." Jason interrupted dramatically.

"What'd he do?" Charlie asked curiously, never having known her brother to commit any crimes.

"_He stole my color_." Jason proclaimed, pointing his finger at Tommy for emphasis.

Tommy rolled his eyes again. "I became the red zeo ranger, then. And after that: red turbo. But that was the last time I was a power ranger. I'm not anymore."

"Then what's with the secret underground lair?" Charlie questioned. "Surely all science teachers don't have those?"

"Hayley helped me build it." Tommy said. "Remember the last dig I went on?"

"The one where you made me stay with Uncle Jase?" Charlie said. "Yeah."

"We found these gems. When bonded with someone, they are given special abilities. Also, a morpher can be used to let the owner of the gem become a power ranger. Somehow, Kira, Conner, and Ethan wandered into the lair from the back entrance and were bonded with the gems. They became the Dino Rangers." Tommy explained. "And I get to play the exciting role of mentor to them."

"Now all you need is a giant tube." Jason said wistfully. "Like Zordon had. Hey, maybe if you get one, you'll be able to stick around for a couple thousand more years to steal a few more colors from people."

Tommy looked back to Charlie. "Any more questions?"

Charlie shook her head. "Not now. But I will, someday. And, I wanna hear all about your time as power rangers. It must have been so exciting. Except for that being evil thing."

Jason grinned. "Ahh, those were the days…"

* * *

It had been a month since Kimberly Hart had found out that her daughter had been adopted by her ex-boyfriends parents. In that month, Kim had found out just how alike she and her daughter really were. 

Charlie was a truly amazing gymnast. Kim thought she was even better than she herself had been at that age.

Kim had also learned from Trini that Charlie was a fairly decent martial artist. Nothing to rival the two men she lived with, but enough that she could make even Trini break a sweat while the two were sparring with each other.

But the most important similarity was not in Charlie's athletic abilities. The most important thing had to do with the fact that Charlie absolutely adored the color pink.

Kim grinned with satisfaction. Obviously living with Tommy hadn't hurt her daughter's sense of style.

"What're you so happy about?" Trini asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." Kim said happily. "I'm just thinking about how well all of my students are doing. That's all."

"Okay." Trini said suspiciously. "If you say so. Hey, I was talking to Hayley earlier. She said she's having this band play at the café tonight. Apparently, the lead singer is supposed to interest both of us. For different reasons, though, she said. Wonder what that was about?"

Kim shrugged. "Sounds like fun. What time?"

"Six, I think." Trini replied. "You're done with all your classes by then, right?"

Kim nodded.

"Then we're going." said Trini.

* * *

Charlie got out of the car, and turned to Jason. 

"Is this smart?" She asked. "Leaving Tommy to get here on his own? You know, he's not exactly what I'd call punctual."

"Chill, kid." Jason said. "Tommy'll be here on time. Kira's a yellow. She'll kill him if he's late by a second."

Charlie nodded. "Good. Hey, look. There's Kira!"

Jason shook his head slightly as the young girl ran off to go greet the teenage girl she seemed to have befriended. It was amazing, really, how alike Charlie and Kim were. Strange, actually...

"JASON!" A voice practically screamed from behind him. Whereas yellows tended to be more on the violent side, pinks were the type that got overexcited about everything. It was a bit annoying, really. But you never mentioned that to a pink. Their best friend's were always yellows.

"Hello, Kimmie." Jason said calmly. "I see you've come to see Kira sing."

Kim turned to Trini, who was standing beside her. "Kira?"

"That's what Hayley said her name was." Trini confirmed. "Didn't I tell you that?"

"No." Kim said pointedly. She turned back to Jason. "Do you know her? Kira, I mean."

Jason nodded. "She's um...a student of Tommy's."

"Oh." Kim said softly. "I suppose he'll be here, then?"

"Yep. If he makes it on time, that is." Jason said. "As I just told Charlie, Kira will kill him if he's late."

Trini tilted her head to the left slightly. "That's an odd relationship for a teacher and student. Why would Kira care so much?"

Jason's eyes went wide. "Um...she's...um...she made friends with Charlie. One day, in the music store. They were both looking for the same CD, or something. So, Kira stops by the house sometimes. Just to talk to Charlie, you know? To tell you the truth, it freaks Tommy out, sometimes."

_I bet it would freak him out much more to know he's been raising his daughter as his sister for the past ten years. _Kim thought to herself. Out loud she said, "It would freak me out, too."

Trini and Jason turned to her in shock.

"What?" Kim questioned. "Is there something on my face?"

"You...you...you just sympathized with...Tommy." Jason said in awe. "You just spoke about him civilly."

"We thought you hated Tommy." Trini continued. "And you just...just..."

"Said it would freak me out if my da-sister was hanging out with one of my students." Kim supplied. "I didn't mention Tommy in any way. Unlike just now, of course."

"It's a sign of the apocalypse." Jason stated.

"Know what's not a sign of the apocaplypse?" Charlie appeared out of nowhere. "Tommy's late."

**

* * *

**

"Jase. _Jase. JASON LEE SCOTT!_"

"I'm up! I'm up!" Jason said hurriedly, jumping out of his bed wildly. "What happened? Charlie, what's wrong? Why can't you go bother your brother?"

"Jason." Charlie said urgently. "I can't find him. Tommy's gone."

"What?!"

"Remember how he wasn't home last night and we were so tired and we assumed he had gone to Hayley's but we just missed him or something?" Charlie said quickly. "I don't think he ever made it that far. Jason, Tommy's missing."

She ended her last sentence with a hint of fear in her quavering voice. Jason's arms quickly enveloped her in a warm hug.

"Don't worry, Char. We'll find your brother, and get him back."

**

* * *

**

Tommy groaned as he regained consciousness. The last thing he remembered was going to Hayley's for Kira's show. Then, he had been attacked by Tyrranadrones. Now, he was in one of the weirdest rooms he had ever seen.

"Ahh, I'm glad to see that you are awake, Dr. Oliver." A voice said from somewhere in the room. "You were asleep for so long. I had feared that you would never wake up, and help me."

Tommy finally placed the voice. "I will never help you, Mesogog. And just for the record, if anything happens to me, I know someone who's gonna kill you."

Something that could vaguely resemble a laugh came out Mesogog's mouth.

"You think one of your pathetic little rangers can defeat me?" He said.

"Trust me, she's not a ranger." Tommy said. "If she was a ranger...she doesn't even want to know what would happen to her. It would be worse than your little death ray thingy over here. By the way, what is it that you wanted me for, anyway?"

"I'm glad you asked." Mesogog said, a creepy grin-like expression now appearing on his face. He gestured to a table behind him that had a large rock-like thing upon it. "I need your...area of expertise...to get that stone open."

Tommy took a quick glance at the stone, and turned back to Mesogog. "Sorry, not interested."

"Are you sure that that's your final answer?" Mesogog asked as his laser turned on. The laser that was pointed straight at Tommy.

* * *

"It's been forever." Charlie complained. "Jason, where could Tommy be?" 

Jason sighed. "I don't know. Hayley should be here soon. I have no idea how to work these computers of hers." The outside door to the underground lair opened just then. "Ah, here she is now."

"I'm telling you," A voice said, "This is where we'll find him. Or at least, where we'll figure out how to find him."

"Forget what I just said." Jason said. "Definitely not Hayley."

Before either one of them could say anything else, however, the three dino rangers walked in to the room and spotted Jason and Charlie.

"Dude." Conner said. "There's people in here. I swear it's not my fault."

"Oh, don't worry." Charlie reassured him. "You only left the trapdoor open once. You're lucky Tommy's been missing since then, though. He threatened to kill you 'cuz I found out about him being a power ranger."

"Who are you and what are you talking about?" Ethan asked.

"You look kinda familiar, now that I think about it." Conner said. "Have we met before?"

"No." Charlie said. "My name is Charlie. I'm Tommy's sister. And this is Jason. He was the first red ranger."

"I was a ranger with Tommy." Jason said.

"Woah, Dr. O is a ranger?" Conner said.

"He isn't anymore." A new voice said.

As one, the five of them turned to see who had spoken. Standing in the doorway that the three teens had just vacated, was Hayley.

"Thank goodness!" Jason exclaimed. "Salvation has arrived! Hayley, I have no idea how to work these computers of yours. I think even Billy would get a bit overwhelmed by these things."

"Impossible." Yet another new voice declared from somewhere behind Hayley. "Sorry we're late, Hayley, _someone_ couldn't decide what to wear."

Hayley stepped aside to let let Trini and Kim walk into the room as well.

"It's ok. I just got here, too." She said.

"Um...what are they doing here?" Charlie questioned.

Trini grinned. "Hi Charlie! I was the first yellow power ranger. Hayley called us when she found out Tommy was missing. Kim and I want to help find him."

Charlie nodded and turned to her gymnastics coach. "If she was yellow, then you were...?"

"Pink." Kim said softly. "I was pink."

**a/n-I wanna know what you think about the chapter. this just seemed like a good place to end it. anyway, hope u liked it. i'll try to update soon.**


	5. Chapter 5

**a/n-this chapter continues right where the last one left off, simply because i have suddenly found inspiration for a way to continue with the story. don't forget what i told u in i think it was Chapter three, if the timeline seems a little out of order or it seems to not fit in with what actually happened in the series, don't complain about it! that's how the story worked out.**

**disclaimer-once, i stole this power rangers toy from my sister...or maybe it was my cousin...anyway, that's that closest i've ever come to owning the power rangers.**

**Chapter Five**

Charlie was silent for a moment after Kim had spoken, but then the full realization of what her coach had said hit her.

"I love pink." Charlie said in equally soft tones.

Kim smiled at this. "I've noticed. You wear it all the time."

"Am I the only one who thinks this looks like a family reunion?" Conner muttered to Kira and Ethan, who both shook their heads no.

"Back to the point, though." Trini said suddenly. "How do we get Tommy back?"

"I have an idea." Hayley said. "I've been working on these new raptor cycles..."

While Hayley got the new vehicles out and was explaining them to the three teens, Trini turned to Jason.

"Am I the only one who has been noticing the similarities between Kim and Charlie?" She said quietly so that the aforementioned people wouldn't hear her.

"They are too alike." Jason said as Hayley finished talking to the rangers. "Look, we have to talk about this later-when neither of them is around, O.K.?"

Trini nodded. The two looked back at the rest of the assembled people just in time to see Conner, Ethan, and Trent leave the Dino Lair, now fully morphed and on their new bikes.

"So, what do we do now?" Charlie asked.

"Now, we wait," said Kim. "It's really quite boring, to tell you the truth."

"Remember that time when you, me, and Jason out to dinner together," said Trini coming into the conversation now, "And Jason got that call and he had to leave?"

Kim grinned. "Yeah, he had to leave for the moon. We sat in your apartment waiting for him to come back for a couple days at least." Here she started laughing. "And when he came back, you tried to beat him up, first because he'd been gone so long without telling us where he was and then because you found out that he'd gone on this top-secret power ranger mission without taking you with him. It was so funny."

Jason looked away from the computer as she said this. "You're just jealous because there aren't enough pink rangers for you guys to have a mission like that."

Kim rolled her eyes. "I am not. Besides, there are plenty of pink rangers. There's me, Kat, Cassie…and um…there was Dana, too." She turned to Trini. "Help me here. There were other pink rangers, weren't there?"

"How should I know?" Trini questioned. "All I care about is the yellow rangers, and there's been one on every single team."

"She's right, you know." Charlie cut in. "Red, Yellow, and Blue are the constants. There's been one on every single team. At first, Ninja Storm only had those three colors.

Trini and Kim stared at her in shock, while Jason burst out laughing.

"What?" Charlie asked. "Why wouldn't people know about that? It's really quite obvious if you pay even the slightest bit of attention to the teams."

"But the first two teams were gone before you were ever born." Kim pointed out. "And you were just a baby when Turbo showed up."

"It's because she lives with the rainbow ranger." Jason said to his two former teammates. "No one else would know that."

"I know that." Hayley informed him, taking a break from monitoring the dino ranger's progress. "Of course, I helped Tommy make his video of Power Ranger history, so that might explain it."

"What video?" Questioned Charlie. "Is that the time when you came over with a video camera and then you and Tommy seemed to disappear and I got stuck with Jason?"

Hayley was about to nod, but Jason interrupted.

"You forgot to finish the story, kid." Jason said. "You didn't tell them how you tricked me, and then ditched me to go to Kim' studio."

"Oh, I remember that day, too." Kim said. "You showed up randomly that day, and spent some time with Trini, and me, once I was done with classes."

"Which reminds me." Trini cut in, practically glaring at Jason. "What did you teach this kid? She's an insane martial artist."

Jason shrugged. "What do you expect? Tommy's the one who raised her. If you ask me, he's creepy in teacher mode. I've just been helping out for the past month."

Charlie nodded fervently. "He scares me sometimes…when we're training."

"They're out." Hayley said suddenly.

"Who's out of where?" Jason asked. Hayley rolled her eyes.

"Conner, Ethan, and Kira got Tommy out of Mesogog's lair." Hayley said slowly, as if she were talking to a preschooler. "They are now in downtown Reefside. The only problem is that Mesogog's goons followed them."

"Well, they have zords, don't they?" Trini asked. "Just in case."

Hayley shrugged. "They might. We haven't found any yet. All this stuff we have, I'm amazed _we_ were the ones who found it, and not some other random person. But having this lab set up has helped a lot."

"Where's Tommy?" Charlie asked suddenly, looking at the screen. "He's not there."

Hayley's eyes widened with worry. "He has to be there, I'm getting a reading from him."

"What is he, invisible?" Jason asked.

"Yes." Kim said, pointing at the screen, where Tommy had just reappeared, his hand clutched around something.

"Hayley." Jason said slowly, his eyes focused on Tommy's clenched fist. "Can you clear something with me? The kids, they all have powers. Like Kira's ptera scream…you know, those things. Could you possibly become invisible if you had a gem?"

As Hayley nodded, Jason looked at Trini and Kim meaningfully.

"No." Trini said suddenly. "No, he did _not _do it _again_."

"Who didn't do what?" Charlie asked confusedly, looking at each of them in turn.

"He _did_." Kim confirmed, pointing to the screen again. "Zack and Adam are not going to be very happy about this."

"He did the other thing again, too?" Jason said. "That guy is impossible!"

"What's happening?!" Charlie shouted.

Kim turned to Charlie. "Your…brother…just became a power ranger."

"Again." Jason finished.

* * *

Tommy looked around downtown Reefside after the battle had finished, and the remaining bad guys had disappeared. It felt so right to be looking at the outcome of a battle with evil through a helmet again.

He turned around to see the other three rangers assembled in front of him, basking in the glory of a fight won, and talking excitedly about their new zords.

"Hey, guys." Tommy said.

"Yeah, Dr. O?" Ethan said.

"We should be heading back." Tommy said. "I'm sure Hayley's worried enough as it is. Let's get back to the lab."

A few minutes later they were at the secret entrance to the Dino Lair, in the woods. Tommy opened the door and let the three teens in first. When he walked in, he had the breath knocked out of him by something small, and moving quite fast, grabbing him around his waist.

"Tommy!" Charlie's muffled voice could be heard saying. "I haven't seen you in ages. What happened?"

"I think we'd all like to know." Jason said, still unmoved from his position by the computers. Trini was standing next to him, and after Tommy's appearance, Kim seemed to be trying to hide behind her lifelong friend.

Tommy shrugged. "It was nothing big. Mesogog captured me outside of the café when I went to see Kira perform, and brought me to his hideout. He wanted my help getting the Black Dino Gem out of this stone thing."

"That's it!" Trini exclaimed suddenly.

"What's it?" Tommy asked confusedly.

Trini turned to Hayley. "That's why you invited us to Kira's show. Why didn't I recognize her earlier? Kimmy! Don't you get it?"

"Get what?" Kira asked. While Tommy's eyes, still hidden behind his helmet, found Kimberly standing partly behind Trini.

"We're both yellows." Trini said, gesturing to herself and Kira. "And you and Kim are both female rangers who sing and play guitar."

Kira looked to Kim. "You play guitar?"

Kim dejectedly moved out from behind Trini. She knew Tommy must have noticed her by now.

"Not anymore." She told the younger girl. "I played for a bit after I quit the team. But then after I…I stopped altogether."

"You quit being a ranger?" Ethan asked. "Why would you do that?"

"We all did." Jason said. "At one point or another, all four of us left the team, mostly for different reasons. Trini and I gave ours powers to two other deserving teens we went to school with when we got accepted to go to this Peace Conference."

"I gave mine to someone as well." Kim told them. "When I qualified to go to the Pan Global Games, for gymnastics."

"I passed my powers on to someone who deserved them." Tommy said. "The whole Turbo team did. It was pretty hard to notice, but there were two different teams for Turbo. Only the blue ranger, Justin, stayed the same. Then all of them, except Justin, became the space rangers."

Kira turned back to Kim. "So, you quit guitar after you stopped being a ranger?"

"No." Kim said. "I stopped playing guitar a few months after I quit the Pan Global team."

"Why'd you do that?" Conner asked. "If you quit being a ranger to do gymnastics, why would you quit gymnastics as well? I would never quit soccer."

"Things came up." Kim said uncomfortably, keeping her gaze away from Tommy and Charlie.

"Hey Tommy." Charlie said, taking the attention away from Kim and any more awkward questions. "Why don't you show Conner, Ethan, and Kira that video you and Hayley made."

"What video?" Tommy asked, feigning innocence.

Charlie rolled her eyes. "The one about the power rangers. And don't say there isn't one, you can't keep secrets from me. I know everything."

Kim smiled sadly as Tommy gave in to his…sister's begging. _If only you really did know everything_.

As Hayley put the video on for the three teens and Charlie, Trini and Jason slipped upstairs, unnoticed. And without ever speaking one word to each other, Kimberly and Tommy sat on opposite sides of the room.

Once in the kitchen, Trini and Jason were both silent.

"Are you thinking the same thing as me?" Jason asked after a moment.

"Depends." Trini answered. "Do you think Charlie is really Kim and Tommy's daughter, who Kim never told anyone about and apparently gave up for adoption once she was born?"

"You forgot the part about Kim quitting the Pan Global team to have the baby. And about Tommy's parents adopting their granddaughter. And then there's still the thing about Tommy raising Charlie as his sister, after his parents died." Jason said. "But yeah, otherwise, that's what I think."

Trini looked at Jason seriously. "But what do we do about it? We can't tell Tommy. That's Kim's job. And talking to Charlie about it is definitely out of the question."

"We could confront Kim." Jason suggested.

"Confront me about what?" A voice said from behind them.

As one, Trini and Jason turned around in shock to find Kim standing there, a curious expression on her face.

"Confront me about _what_?" Kim asked again, more pointedly this time.

Jason glanced at Trini, looking worried. This wasn't good. Trini shot him a reproachful look, but turned back to her best friend.

"Kim." Trini started. "Why did you quit the Pan Global team?"

Kimberly's eyes went wide with worry. She didn't want to talk about this. Not now. Not here; not in Tommy's house.

"I…I…You see…It was because…um…I…" Kim stuttered.

"Just tell us, Kimmy." Jason said reassuringly. "It can't be as bad as when we tried to kill the Turbo rangers."

A flicker of a smile flashed across Kim's face. She sighed deeply, and was silent for about a minute.

"I-I was pregnant." She said at last, to her feet. She looked up to see no shock on her friend's faces. "Why don't you look surprised?"

"I think we've figured it all out." Trini said, more to herself or Jason, than to Kim. "It all fits together perfectly."

"But how do you know?" Kim asked desperately. "I didn't tell any of my friends. Don't you remember, Jason?"

"Remember what?" Jason asked, looking confused.

"When you and I went to surprise everyone in Angel Grove." Kim clarified. "We were bored, and you wanted to go to a carnival or something like that. I suggested scuba diving. That was only about a month after the baby was born. I was still trying to lose all that weight. I didn't want anyone to know."

"But you must have had help." Trini said. "What about that guy? You know, the one you…dumped…Tommy for?"

A sad smile appeared on Kim's face.

"There was no other guy. I made him up. When I first found out, I called my mom first, in France. She kept screaming at me over the phone when I told her I was pregnant. It was terrible. That was the last time I ever talked to her; she disowned me before hanging up on me."

"That's terrible, Kimmy." Trini said, enveloping her friend in a hug.

Kim shrugged as she pulled back. "I've gotten over it. She wasn't the best of mothers, to tell you the truth. Besides, I've had ten years."

"Ten years to tell all of us." Jason cut in softly.

"I wanted to." Kim said, on the brink of tears. "Really, I did. But I couldn't face T-Tommy. How could I tell all of you, and not tell him that he was a father?"

"Kimmy, he loved you." Jason stated. "He would have been there for you if you had told him."

"I was seventeen!" Kim cried, the tears now running silently down her cheeks. "I was scared and nowhere near home."

"Then how did Mr. and Mrs. Oliver end up with the baby?" Trini asked.

"How did you know about that?" Kim asked, the tears disappearing almost as quickly as they had come. "How did you know that they were the ones who adopted my baby? You didn't tell _him_, did you?"

"We just put two and two together, Kim." Jason explained. "When I saw you and Charlie together for the first time…I would be shocked if you _weren't_ her mother."

"And we didn't tell anyone else." Trini said. "We promise."

Kim sighed in relief, and a small smile graced her face. "We do look rather like a family, don't we?"

"It was kind of funny," Jason started, "I was picking Charlie up from her lesson one day, and you were helping her with her routine or something, Kim. These two mothers standing a little next to me were commenting on how it was nice that your daughter took lessons from her mother."

"But knowing you two, that wasn't the first time you had suspicions about me, or Charlie, was it?" Kim questioned, the smile still present.

Jason shook his head, and Trini smiled as well.

"What happened after you called your mother?" Jason asked curiously, getting them back on topic.

"There's not really much left to what happened, to tell you the truth." Kim admitted. "I knew I couldn't stay in Florida-my coach and the team were all angry that I quite, and I didn't know anyone else, so I took the first plane to L.A. that I could get, and moved to a small apartment in Angel Grove. After the baby was born, they offered to let me meet the adoptive parents, but I didn't want to take the chance that I might change my mind and want the baby back. I knew she would have a better life with two parents, rather than just me. After that, I moved to L.A., where you found me, Jase, right before we became the incentive for the Turbo powers to be created. And I lived there until about two months ago, when Trini convinced me we should move here, and open a gymnastics studio."

"And you're glad I did that, aren't you now?" Trini said with another smile. "If not, you never would have met your daughter."

Kim's face seemed to fall at these words. "Oh, what am I going to do? I can't tell Tommy now, after all these years. I can't tell him that he's raised his daughter as his sister for five and a half years."

Trini sighed. "You have to tell him, though. Tommy deserves to know."

"What do I deserve to know?" Tommy asked, appearing in the kitchen, Charlie, Hayley, and the dino rangers close behind him.

The movie was over.

**a/n-cliffhangers are fun.**


	6. Chapter 6

**a/n-i have decided that it is in the best interests of my reviewers to update right now, especially cuz of the cliffhanger last chapter. btw-i'm glad you're all liking the story.**

**Chapter Six**

As soon as Kim heard Tommy's voice, she froze in panic. This wasn't happening. She had been keeping the baby a secret for over ten years, and just because her two best friends had just found out did _not_ mean that anyone else had to. No one else was going to know about the baby. _No one_.

"No idea." Kim said shortly, not even turning around to face him. "And since you've obviously been rescued, Tommy, I don't think I'm needed here anymore. I'll be leaving now."

And with those final words, she walked out of the kitchen. Tommy turned to Trini and Jason as the front door slammed behind Kim.

"What just happened?" asked Tommy. "And what do I deserve to know, Trini?"

Trini returned Tommy's gaze uncomfortably. "It's not my place to tell you, Tommy. And before you ask, it's not Jason's either."

"Then who's supposed to tell me?" Tommy asked exasperatedly.

"Take a guess, bro." Jason said quietly. "Who do you think has something important to tell you, but refuses to?"

Tommy's eyes went wide with realization. "Charlie, Kira, Conner, Ethan, go do something…somewhere else…"

Hayley glanced at her watch as he said this. "I have to go, too, Tommy. Sorry. I have to open up the café soon. I'll talk to you later, O.K.?"

Tommy nodded as she followed the other four out of the room. Then, he turned back to his friends.

"Guys," Tommy began, "What could be so important that Kimberly is the only one who can tell me? Why can't either of you? What's going on here?"

"Tommy." Trini said sadly. "We can't tell you anything. We've already told you too much. This isn't our secret to tell!"

With that being said, she turned and stomped out of the house as well. Jason turned to Tommy.

"Bro, I can't say much, but me and Trini, we just figured it out. And if you look close enough, I'm sure you will, too."

Tommy sighed in frustration as Jason left the room as well.

What secret could Kimberly possibly be keeping from him?

* * *

"Why is everything all pink?" Conner asked as he looked around the room the three dino rangers had followed Charlie to after being banished from the kitchen. 

Charlie glared at him. "I like pink." She said, defending the color of her bedroom. "But what do you all think that was? Before, in the kitchen, I mean."

Kira shrugged.

"No idea." Ethan said. "But it looked as if that Kim woman was supposed to be telling Dr. O something."

"What could Coach Hart possibly have to tell Tommy?" Charlie questioned. "They haven't seen each other since high school. Jason said the last time they actually spoke to each other was the Christmas they were both seventeen. That was almost eleven years ago. Though Coach Hart was at mom and dad's funeral. I kind of remember seeing her talk to Trini."

"You confuse me, kid." Conner said. "How come we didn't know that Dr. O has a little sister?"

"My. Name. Is. Charlie." Charlie stated, glaring at the red ranger. "Never call me 'kid' again."

"I knew." Kira quickly cut in. "We met at a music store once. Besides, Conner, only an idiot wouldn't know that Charlie and Dr. O aren't related. Whenever Dr. O is at Hayley's, chances are that Charlie's there, too. And you'd only have to look at the two of them to see that they are siblings."

Ethan nodded his agreement. "You do look an awful lot like Dr. O, Charlie."

Charlie smiled faintly at this. "It's kind of funny that you'd say that, actually. Me and Tommy are only siblings through adoption. Mom and dad adopted both of us. I forget what Tommy's story is, but he does have a biological brother named David. And my birth mom gave me up when I was born, cuz she knew she couldn't take care of me."

"I've got it!" Conner exclaimed suddenly. "This all makes perfect sense, now! All of it!"

"What are you talking about?" Kira asked. "What makes sense?"

"I know what Kim was supposed to tell Dr. O!" Conner said triumphantly. He looked around at the other three people assembled in Charlie's room. "Don't you guys get it?"

"Obviously not." Ethan said dryly. "Care to enlighten us?"

"Okay." Conner agreed. "So, Dr. O and Kim knew each other in high school, right?"

"They were rangers together until Coach Hart left for the Pan Global's." Charlie said. "What about it?"

"Stop interrupting." Conner commanded. "I'm getting there. Anyway, what if they used to date?"

"They did!" Charlie said suddenly. "Right after we moved here, Jason and I signed up for my gymnastics lessons, and when we got home Tommy seemed really upset that Kim was my coach. I told them I was going up to my room, but I stayed behind to listen to their conversation. When she was in Florida, Coach Hart broke up with Tommy. She did it in a letter three months after they had last seen each other; Tommy was heartbroken. I think that was like six months before mom and dad adopted me."

"Which makes that six months before you were born?" Kira clarified.

Charlie nodded. "They adopted me a few days after I was born."

"Anyway," Conner said again, "So Dr. O and Kim were dating, but then they broke up. Charlie, you said before that the only time in the past eleven or so years that the two of them saw each other was at your parents funeral?"

"There _was_ Muranthias." Charlie said. "Jason and Kim went back to Angel Grove to surprise everyone about a month after I was born. But some bad guy or something kidnapped them, and the Zeo rangers had to create the Turbo powers. Kim and Jase got put under this evil spell, but after it was broken, Tommy spent the rest of their visit with me, trying to avoid Kim."

"Am I the only one who sees this pattern?" Conner asked. "Kim breaks up with Dr. O six months before Charlie is born, then the next time they see each other is a month _after_ she was born."

"No." Kira said. "That's crazy. That couldn't happen. It's impossible."

"Conner, _you're _crazy." Ethan stated.

"What are you guys talking about?" Charlie asked. "All of this is confusing me."

"But don't you see it?" Kira said. "Charlie, Kim…Coach Hart…she's your birth mother."

Charlie's eyes went wide with shock, and a knock resounded on the wooden door.

"Char?" Jason's voice said through the door. "Char, you have to get ready for gymnastics, now. And tell Conner and Ethan that they should get out of your room before Tommy finds them there."

Conner and Ethan looked at each other, fear written all over their faces.

"Bye!" Both said as they bolted for the door.

Kira turned to Charlie, shaking her head with amusement. "Look, Charlie…just think about what we talked about. You're a smart girl…and if you're going to gymnastics, maybe you should talk to Kim about it there. She'll tell you the truth."

Charlie nodded. "I don't think I should say anything to Tommy, for now."

"That's a good idea." Kira said. "Anyway, I should probably get going. Have fun at gymnastics, and don't forget to talk to her."

Charlie shakily sat down on her bed once she was alone in her room. This was all just a little much. Just last week, her life had been so normal. Now, everything was so crazy.

First, she found out that the two men she lived with had been some of the original power rangers, and that the base for the current team was right underneath her house. Then, some evil bad guy had kidnapped her brother and she found out that her gymnastics coach and her best friend were another two of the original rangers. And after that, her older brother had become a power ranger, yet again. But now, there was a chance that her gymnastics coach might actually be her birth mother, and the man who had raised her since their adoptive parents deaths', her older brother, was probably her dad.

Charlie's life was so messed up.

With another sigh, Charlie got up again and started to get ready for her gymnastics class. Maybe she would talk to Coach Hart. As messed up as her life was, that could help to sort everything out again.

As she was getting into Jason's car a little while later, Charlie smiled to herself for no apparent reason.

Yes, she would talk to Coach Hart about the dino ranger's theory. And if it was right- if Coach Hart and Tommy really were her birth parents- maybe, _just_ _maybe_, they could all be the family that Charlie had wanted so desperately ever since her parents' death.

* * *

"You are so dead, Kimberly Ann Hart!" Trini exclaimed, entering the office of the gymnastics studio, where Kim was looking through some records. 

"Why?" Kim asked absentmindedly, not paying the slightest bit of attention to what her best friend was saying.

"Look at me Kim." Trini commanded.

Kim looked up at the sharpness of Trini's voice.

"What's wrong, Trini?" Kim questioned.

Trini's eyes went wide. "What wrong? You're asking me what's wrong? Do you have any idea what you just did?!"

"Is this about me not telling Tommy about Charlie?" Kim asked as she looked back down at her papers.

"Yes!" Trini practically shouted. "This is his daughter we're talking about. You have to tell him!"

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have confronted me in his kitchen!" Kim shouted back, her papers forgotten. "Maybe I would have told him if I hadn't been put on the spot like that. Maybe I've been trying to tell him for the past eleven years!"

Trini's gaze softened as Kim broke out in tears with those words.

"Maybe the letter I wrote was me trying to get his attention." Kim said, now sobbing into Trini's shoulder. "Maybe I thought he would come after me when he got it."

"Oh, Kimmy." Was all Trini could say, while she rubbed her friend on the back. "Tell you what, how about we cancel your classes for tonight, and just you and I hang out. I think you only have one class anyway."

"I have Charlie's class." Kim supplied, finally lifting her head up.

Trini bit her lip. "Think you can handle it?"

"I can do it." Kim said, straightening up fully now. "I have to."

"Alright, if you say so." Trini said, somewhat hesitantly, as Kim made to leave the office. "But afterwards, you and I are gonna talk some more. Okay?"

Kim nodded. "No problem."

* * *

Throughout her entire class, Charlie was a nervous wreck. She was so nervous, in fact, that she didn't even notice Kim avoiding her practically the whole time. It was only when Charlie really needed help, and asked for it, that her coach came over. But Charlie didn't notice that. 

After class, Charlie took her time getting ready to go home. She had told Jason to pick her up a half hour later than usual, so she could talk to Kim. Not that she had told Jason that that was the reason, though.

When the last person had left, Charlie made her way to Kim's office. The door was open, but Charlie knocked anyway. Kim looked up from whatever she was working on, to see Charlie standing in the doorway.

"Can I help you with something, Charlie?" Kim asked. Charlie didn't notice the anxious note that had crept into her coach's voice.

"I-I wanted to talk to you." Charlie said hesitantly.

"Come, sit down." Kim said, gesturing to the empty chair in front of her desk.

Charlie, somewhat jerkily, made her way to the offered seat, and Kim leaned forward a bit.

"Now, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Kim asked the girl.

Charlie suddenly froze up. She had no idea what she was doing. This had been Kira's idea; Kira's idea based off of what Conner had hypothesized. Why on earth had Kira and Ethan listened to what Conner had said? And why had they believed him?

"Is this about your…b-bro—Tommy being a ranger?" Kim suddenly stuttered, when Charlie didn't say anything. "Because you really have nothing to worry about. Most of the fighting will probably be left to the other three. They're much younger." Kim grinned here. "Tommy needs to remember that he isn't a teenager anymore."

"I know." Charlie cut in.

"Know what?" Kim asked. "That you have nothing to worry about? Or that your brother isn't a teenager?"

"I know." Charlie said again. "I know that you're my mother."

**a/n-before u all review and say how much u hate me, i'm really really really really extremely sorry! i know this is like the third cliffhanger in a row, but it's keeping u reading the story, right? anyway, the next chapter is almost finished, so if u ask nicely, maybe i'll finish it and post it later today, cuz right now it's like 1:30 in the morning. okay? anyway, minus the cliffhanger, i hope u liked the chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7

**a/n-see, next chapter, just as promised. enjoy!**

**Chapter Seven**

"I know." Kim heard Charlie say. "I know that you're my mother.

With a _thump_, Kim collapsed backwards in her chair. This could not be happening. She couldn't know. Trini and Jason wouldn't have told her. They wouldn't have! They wanted Kim to come clean on her own and tell Tommy and Charlie.

"At first I didn't believe him." Charlie went on. "I mean, this is Conner we're talking about. Conner, for goodness sake! He isn't exactly someone known for having a smart gene. Then Kira tried to convince me that Conner was right when he said that you quit the Pan Global team to have me, and then give me up for adoption. She's the one who said that I should talk to you about it after class. But then I started having doubts about it. I knew it was too unlikely, cuz Conner had figured it out and all that. But just now—you cold barely do it. You couldn't say Tommy was my brother. Because Conner was right about that, too. When I told them that you and Tommy used to date, he said that there was no way you and Tommy couldn't not be my birth parents."

Charlie stopped here, and Kim still didn't say anything. She was in too much shock to do anything.

"We figured it all out." Charlie continued softly. "You broke up with Tommy because you were pregnant. Then you obviously came back to Angel Grove, which doesn't really make sense 'cuz you might run into yours and Tommy's friends there. When I was born, you gave me up for adoption and left Angel Grove." She paused. "I just don't understand why you broke up with him."

Kim gave a small sigh, and looked up at Charlie. A sad smile broke out on her face. They were so alike, the two of them. Charlie had her caramel-colored hair and the same nose. But her eyes, Charlie had Tommy's eyes.

Kim closed her own eyes, trying to stem the flow of tears threatening to overflow. When she opened them again, Charlie was sitting there, looking more nervous than Tommy had on his and Kim's first date. Kim took a deep breath, and opened her mouth to answer, when someone bounded into the room.

"Kimmy." Trini said. "You promised we'd tal-Charlie? What are you doing here? I thought you went home."

"Charlie wanted to talk to me." Kim told her friend. She glanced at the now anxious girl sitting across the desk, and then back at her best friend. "Sit down, Trini. I think what you wanted us to talk about tonight ties in very closely with what I'm about to tell Charlie."

With a curious look on her face, Trini sat in the vacant chair next to Charlie.

"And don't interrupt." Kim said sternly to Trini, who nodded in understanding.

Kim took another deep breath and dove into her lengthy explanation, beginning with her answer to Charlie's question.

"Like you said, Charlie, I was seventeen when it happened." Kim began. "I was visiting Angel Grove for Christmas. It was my break from training for the Pan Globals. That was the last time I was with Tommy when he my boyfriend. Shortly after Christmas, I went back to Florida. Tommy and I wrote each other letters, and there was an occasional phone call. I never had any plans about breaking up with Tommy; I loved him. But then, three months later, I found out that I was pregnant."

Here Kim shook her head sadly. "Everything went downhill from there. I called my mother first because I had no idea what to do. I was so lost, and I thought she would help me." Kim looked Charlie straight in the eye at this point. "No matter what happens after this, just know that you will never meet your grandmother. Ever."

"Um…O.K." Charlie said awkwardly. She could really care less at this point.

Trini didn't say a word.

"My _mother _screamed and yelled when I told her I was pregnant." Kim continued with a frown at the unpleasant memory. "She told me that no matter what decision I made about the baby, that I could no longer consider her my mother. I haven't spoken to her since. After that nice little chat with my mother, I just got so worried that Tommy would have the same reaction. I was seventeen, pregnant, alone, and too many miles from home to be bothered to count. So, I did the only thing I could think of. I sent Tommy a Dear John letter, saying that I had met someone else.

"In some ways, I think that was my cry for help. I wanted to tell Tommy, really, I did. But I just didn't know how. It would have been even worse if I had wrote him a letter saying I was pregnant, rather than breaking up with him in a letter. I couldn't call him and tell him. Every time I picked up the phone and dialed his number I put it right back down once someone picked it up. I guess I thought Tommy would be so jealous, or mad even, that I had dumped him for some Florida guy that he would come down to see me. But he didn't.

"That's when I quit the Pan Global team. I knew I wanted to keep the baby, but not in Florida. I wanted my baby to grow up in the place where I had. So, I moved back to Angel Grove about a month after sending the letter, when I had given up all hope of Tommy coming after me. I rented a small apartment for six months, and barely left except for food and doctor's appointments. As glad as I was to be home, no one could know I was there. It was when you were born, Charlie, that I realized I couldn't keep you." Kim looked at her daughter with sorrow in her eyes. The day she had decided to give her daughter up had been one of the worst in her life, second only to the last day she last saw and held her precious baby.

"I was seventeen, alone, and jobless. I barely had any money, and I was starting to realize that Angel Grove wasn't the best place for a single mother -who was trying to avoid all of her friends- to raise a baby. So, I called the Angel Grove Adoption Agency." Kim said softly, her eyes brimming with tears once more. "They offered to let me meet the adoptive parents, but I couldn't do it. I didn't want to take you back, as much as I loved you. I knew you needed a better life than the only one I could offer you with me. A few days after I came home from the hospital, after you were born, the rent was up on my apartment, so I left Angel Grove for LA. I got a job in a department store, and once I had earned enough money, I opened up a gymnastics studio."

Kim's watery eyes looked into the ones that so resembled Tommy's, once again. "Even if it was for a good cause, giving you up was the worst mistake of my life. There hasn't been a day in my life, since you were born, that I haven't regretted it. I-I'm sorry. I wish I could have been a better mother to you."

With those words, the tears finally spilled all over Kim's cheeks.

"If…If it makes you feel better…" Charlie said hesitantly. "I think you were a better mother than yours was. At least you tried to help me."

Kim smiled at her daughter through her tears. "Thank you. It means a lot."

She grabbed a tissue from the box on her desk, and hurriedly dried her eyes. She threw it in the trashcan, and then looked back to Charlie, showing the same hesitance the younger girl had shown just moments before.

"Erm…Charlie…" Kim said slowly. "C-Can I hug you?"

Charlie smiled. "Of course you can."

Kim stood up, walked around the desk, and threw her arms around her daughter's neck. By this time, Charlie was standing as well, and she wrapped her arms around the petite woman's middle. Off to the side a bit, Trini observed the touching reunion with a smile and extremely teary eyes. If this hadn't been such a serious moment, Trini might have laughed at the way Kim and Charlie looked next to each other. For being seventeen years older than her daughter, Kim sure didn't look it. At ten, Charlie already came up to a little under Kim's shoulder.

Off in the distance, outside, Trini suddenly heard the slamming of a car door. Her eyes went wide with worry. That had to be Charlie's ride. Sure, Tommy made sure to put as much distance between this place and himself, but what if today was the day he decided to come pick his sister up from gymnastics? Without a word, Trini quickly stood up and practically sprinted out of the office, and down to the front doors. She just reached them as they were opening. Trini breathed a sigh of relief as Jason stepped through them.

"Hey, Trini." Jason said pleasantly. "Long time no see, huh? Anyway, you know where Charlie is? She told me to pick her up a half hour later today, so I just got here."

"She's…with…Kim." Trini panted, leaning against his shoulder for support.

"Why?" Jason asked slowly, alarm creeping into his voice and on to his face. "What are they doing?"

"Charlie's smart. She doesn't take after her brother in that department, or should I say her father?" Trini said.

"She didn't?" Jason asked, now amazed.

"She did." Trini confirmed. "Charlie figured it out. It was probably with the dino rangers when Tommy made them leave the room."

Jason could only nod his agreement. He was silent for a moment before looking down at Trini, who was still leaning on his side.

"So, what did Kimmy tell her?" Jason asked curiously.

"Everything." Trini said. "I was there. Kim told Charlie everything. Now, they're having a bit of mother/daughter bonding time."

"What do you say we give them a few more hours?" Jason asked.

"What do you mean?" Trini asked, finally letting go of Jason so that she was looking him straight in the face with a confused expression on her face. Suddenly, she got an excited air about her. "Is this gonna involve lying to Tommy?"

"Oh yeah." Jason said, grinning.

"Then I'm in." Trini said. "What do we have to do?"

Trini and Jason both looked up when Charlie came running out of Kim's office, about a half hour later. The two of them had been sitting in the waiting area outside of the office, waiting for Charlie to remember that Jason was coming to pick her up.

Charlie skidded to a halt when she saw Jason sitting there.

"Sorry I'm late, Jase." Charlie said. "I was…um…talking to Coach Hart. And I forgot about the time, and I'm really sorry I'm late. You don't think Tommy will be mad, do you?"

"You'll be fine, kid." Jason told her. "I know all about your talk with Kim. And Trini and I already called Tommy—"

"You didn't tell him? Did you?!" Charlie interrupted. "You can't tell him!"

"We didn't tell him, Charlie." Trini said calmly. "We called him and told him that you convinced Jason to let you sleep over at a friend's house tonight. Tommy said it was fine. He wouldn't have been mad about you being late, anyway. He was…busy."

"Yeah, and he can't tell time." Jason muttered.

"What was Tommy busy doing?" Charlie asked slowly.

Trini opened her mouth to answer, but instead, she and Jason both burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Kim asked, coming out of her office now.

"I asked them what Tommy was doing," Charlie told her, "And they started laughing. I don't get it."

"He-He…" Jason said in between his laughing. "It's too funny…"

"What is he doing?" Charlie asked again.

Trini stopped laughing, and looked up at the two people in front of her. "He said…he said he needed to go shopping."

Jason laughed even harder at this point, and Trini started giggling.

"Why is that funny?" Kim asked. "I'm sure Tommy has to go shopping all the time."

"He does." Charlie said.

"He went clothes shopping." Jason gasped out.

"And…?" Kim prompted.

"Tommy said there was a shortage of b-black in his closet." Trini finished, and then burst out laughing again.

A small smiled broke out on Kim's face. "I'm amazed that there is a color he hasn't been."

"Is this about Tommy being the…what did you call him again, Jase? Oh yeah, the rainbow ranger. Is this about Tommy being the rainbow ranger?" Charlie questioned.

Trini and Jason could only nod, still laughing.

"Wait a minute." Charlie said suddenly. "Why would you tell Tommy that I was sleeping over at a friend's house?"

This made Trini and Jason stop laughing. Trini looked at Charlie.

"Because you are." Trini replied. "You're sleeping over at my house. And it just so happens that Kim lives in my house."

"_Our_ house." Kim corrected. "It's _our_ house."

"Really?" Charlie asked. "I get to stay over with you guys?"

Trini glanced at Kim, and they both nodded.

"Jason and I decided that you need to spend some time with your mom." Trini stated. "Plus, this is the best way for you to get to hear embarrassing stories about Tommy."

"And you can tell us all about your life." Kim put in. "I want to know all about my daughter.

There was a huge grin on Charlie's face by this time. "This is gonna be so much fun."

As Trini and Kim locked the building up for the night, Jason dragged Charlie off to the side.

"Charlie, I want you to try to do something for me while you're with Kim." Jason began, a serious note in his voice.

"I promise I'll do everything I can to convince Kim to talk to Tommy." Charlie cut in. "Don't worry, I'll do my best."

Jason smiled. "Good. Trini's gonna try some stuff, too. Your parents really need to have a nice little chat."

"You know, it's still kind of weird talking about them like that." Charlie admitted. "It makes me think of mom and dad, and what they would have thought about all of this."

"Charlie." Jason said, grasping the girl's shoulders. "Don't think about it like that. When Tommy found David, they were so happy for him." Jason grinned now. "And think about it this way, technically they're your grandparents. So you're still all related."

Charlie nodded.

"You'll be fine, Char." Jason insisted as he walked Charlie over to Kim's car. "Just go have fun with your mom and your crazy aunt."

"Thanks, Jase." Charlie said, as she climbed into the passenger seat. "Have fun with Tommy."

"Oh, don't worry about us." Jason said, his grin widening. "I have big plans for tonight. It's about time I gave Adam and Zack a call. You know, catch up on things…tell them that Tommy stole their color."

Charlie laughed as Kim got into the car as well and started the engine.

Jason waved goodbye as Kim pulled away once Trini had gotten in as well. When they were gone, he hurriedly got into his car. He had phone calls to make, and multi-colored rangers to get in trouble…

**a/n-that's not really a cliffhanger, is it? cuz if it is, i'm sorry for doing it yet again. but i really do hope you liked the chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER-POWER RANGERS NOT MINE!**

**Chapter Eight**

Tommy sighed in boredom as he channel surfed on the t.v. It was Friday night and he had nothing to do. Charlie had gone to sleep over at a friend's house, and Jason had locked himself in his room to make mysterious phone calls after coming home from dropping Charlie off.

When he couldn't find anything interesting to watch, Tommy turned off the t.v. and stood up. Maybe Jason would be willing to come out of his room to do something. But just as he was about to knock on his friend's door, the doorbell rang. Before Tommy could even begin to turn around to go answer it, Jason's door swung open and Tommy caught a glimpse of a red blur rushing past him.

Shaking his head in defeat, Tommy started to walk back towards the front door, after Jason, to see who was there. As he drew closer, he heard the sound of raised voices. And they sounded angry…but strangely familiar.

"Where is he?" Tommy finally heard a voice demand clearly over all of the din, as he hid in a doorway just off the front hall. He decided to make his presence known at this point.

"Where is who?" Tommy asked.

Jason was shoved out of the way of the front door with a strangled yell of "_YOU!_" Tommy took a few steps back in alarm as he spotted two of his old friends, with furious expressions on their faces.

"Um…hey guys." Tommy said hesitantly. "What's up?"

"What's up?" Adam repeated in disbelief. He turned to Zack, who was standing beside him. "Did he just ask _us_ what's up?"

Zack nodded. "I say we tell him 'what's up'. What do you say?"

"Sounds like a plan." Adam said, turning back to his former teammate. "Tommy." He said slowly, and a bit menacingly. "Why don't you sit down?"

"Erm…okay." Tommy said slowly. "Why don't we go into the kitchen? Would either of you like a drink?"

"We aren't thirsty." Adam said, cutting off Zack's reply.

Once in the kitchen, Tommy threw himself into one of the chairs and Adam and Zack sat directly across from him. Jason pulled a chair over to the side, so that he could have a good view of everyone.

"So," began Tommy, "What brings the two of you to Reefside?"

"He doesn't know." Zack said to Adam, as if Tommy wasn't sitting right in front of them. "How could he _not_ know?"

Adam just shook his head sadly.

"I invited them over." Jason said slyly. "Figured we could use a little reunion of rangers. We're all connected…the three of us…" An evil grin lit up his face now. "By our colors."

With these words, all color drained from Tommy's face.

"You _didn't_." He said softly.

"Oh, he did." Adam said in a creepy voice.

Zack smiled sweetly. "So, Tommy…We here you've re-started up your color-stealing business. Tell us, what color are you now?"

"Yes, Tommy." Adam agreed in the same tone, so that he sounded even scarier than before. "Tell us."

Tommy gulped. "Uh…I'm…b-black now."

"Yes." Zack said in that same fake-sweet voice. "So we had heard."

"But, Tommy, there's a little problem with that." Adam continued, the smile disappearing from his face again.

"T-There is?" Tommy asked shakily.

"Oh, yes." Adam said. "You see, the two of us," He indicated himself and Zack, "Were both black before you. It's bad enough that Zack had to give up that power, then I got your leftovers when I became the green Zeo ranger, but now you have to go and steal OUR COLOR!"

"I'm…sorry?" Tommy said.

"You had better be sorry." Zack said threateningly. "Don't forget, we were your teammates_. We know your weaknesses_."

"Now that that's over with," Adam said, his menacing expression replaced with a cheerful one now, "What have you been up to in the past five and a half years? We haven't seen you in ages."

Tommy sighed with relief that the color questioning was now over, and proceeded to tell his old friends what had happened in his life since the last time they had spoken.

"-And after the island blew up, I got offered a teaching position in Reefside, so Charlie and I moved here. When I told Jason, he offered to move in with us. So that's how I ended up in Reefside with a crazy roommate." Tommy finished.

"Where is Charlie?" Zack asked. "You didn't forget her somewhere, did you?"

"She's sleeping over at a friend's house." Jason said, speaking up for the first time in a while now.

Zack nodded, while Adam examined Tommy curiously. Then, his eyes lit up with surprise.

"Ha!" He said suddenly, an expression of realization upon his face as he pointed at Tommy's head.

"What?" Tommy asked worriedly. "Is there something in my hair?"

Zack started shaking his head 'no' when he, too, burst out laughing.

"What's so funny guys?" Tommy asked desperately.

"You cut off your pony tail." Adam said, trying to stifle his laughter. "You've had that thing since forever."

Jason tried very hard not to join in the laughter now.

"Tommy," Jason said sweetly, "Why don't you tell them _why_ you cut off all of your hair."

"I'd rather not." Tommy said stiffly.

"Ah, come on." Zack pleaded. "Why not? I wanna know what happened to the mullet."

"Yeah." Adam agreed. "Come on, Tommy. Tell us. Please?"

"If you don't, I will." Jason threatened.

"Fine." Tommy said, throwing his hands up in defeat. "But you're just gonna laugh more when I tell you."

"We promise we'll try not to." Zack said sweetly, crossing his fingers under the table.

"It's not that bad." Jason told Tommy reassuringly.

"You didn't have your so-called colleagues laughing at you every time they saw you with your little sister for weeks." Tommy said darkly.

"Then you shouldn't have told them the truth." Jason reasoned.

"_I_ didn't." Tommy protested. "_Charlie_ did."

"Tommy." Zack interrupted in a childish voice. "You promised us you would tell us. We're waiting."

Tommy rolled his eyes. "When Charlie was five, she told me I looked more like a big sister than a big brother."

"She was right." Adam muttered. Tommy glared at him.

"She kept telling me I should get my hair cut." Tommy continued. "I told her I liked my hair the way it was, and I didn't want to get it cut." He faltered slightly here, and continued in a softer voice. "But she didn't like that."

Zack sniggered. "You're scared of your little sister."

"Am not!" Tommy protested.

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Guys!" Adam interrupted. "Just shut up. I wanna know what happens next."

Zack settled back into his chair in triumph, while Tommy shot him a glare.

"Charlie likes being listened to." Tommy explained. "She doesn't like it when people don't like her ideas. That's when she gets revenge on them." He took a deep breath here and then continued. "One day, I fell asleep on the couch reading something. Charlie found me like that…and she also found a pair of scissors. When I woke up, I didn't have any hair anymore."

There was silence for a moment, and then Adam and Zack started howling with laughter.

"You lost your mullet to a five-year old." Zack said in between his laughter.

"It's not funny." Tommy said grumpily.

"Yes it is." Jason stated. "Now, since you guys are already here, I think we should all do something tonight."

Adam and Zack stopped laughing long enough to agree to go to some pizza place Jason had found one day picking Charlie up from gymnastics.

"Fun." Zack gasped, before cracking up again.

"This is gonna be a long night." Tommy sighed.

The only problem was, he had no idea how long…

"So…" Charlie began, as they were driving to Trini and Kim's place. "You two live together?"

Kim nodded, keeping her eyes on the road. "We've been best friends since forever. Trini's the one who convinced me to come move out here."

"She wanted to stay in LA." Trini told Charlie. "But seriously, what's in LA?"

"Lots of things." Charlie said reasonably. "That place is huge."

"But LA doesn't have power rangers." Trini protested.

"Neither did Reefside." Kim pointed out. "Not until a week ago."

"Tommy's fault." Charlie said promptly. "After all the things I've learned about him when he was power ranger, I've come to a conclusion. That guy doesn't know when to give it up."

"You're telling us?" Trini said. "I've seen that guy go through more colors than I can count, firsthand."

Kim shrugged. "I was there for green and white, then when I came back he was already on his second red." She glanced at Trini through the mirror at this point. "And you were only there for green and white. How can you not count to two?"

"We're here." Trini said, pointedly ignoring her friend.

Charlie looked eagerly out of the window, to see a regular-sized house on one of Reefside's residential streets. She tilted her head to the side a bit, as if having trouble examining it.

"Is something wrong?" Kim asked worriedly.

"It's…purple." Charlie said.

"Don't you love it?" Trini asked excitedly, getting out of the car. "It was the only neutral-colored house we could find that we actually liked. Brown houses are quite ugly."

"_Purple_ is a neutral color?" Charlie asked skeptically.

"It is if you used to be a ranger." Kim pointed out, grabbing her own gym bag from the trunk, and handing Charlie's over to her. "That's one of the only colors that has never been used for a power ranger. Well, that and orange. But who really wants an _orange_ house? Anyway, come on get inside. We have really weird neighbors. The girl who lives next door, Cassidy, she's always stopping Trini and I and trying to interview us for something or other."

As she spoke, the three of them made their way to the front door, and almost as soon as the three of them were inside they were met by a kitten.

"Hello, Rita." Trini cooed to it in a baby voice, as she stroked its back. "Were you a good girl today? Did you miss us when we went to go rescue the rainbow ranger?"

"You named your cat _Rita_?" Charlie said, raising her eyebrows. "Wasn't she one of the bad guys when you were rangers?"

"Yep." Kim said. "It's kind of an inside joke. Kat—you probably saw her in Tommy's video—gave her to us as a house-warming present when we moved here. When Kat first moved to Angel Grove, Rita put her under an evil spell, and she turned into a cat."

"You guys are weird." Charlie stated.

"We used to be power rangers. It comes with job description." Trini said, as she continued to pet the cat named after a former villain. "Besides, Char, you're related."

"Well, maybe I got the not-weird genes." Charlie retorted.

"Who cares about those genes?" Kim asked. "You should feel lucky you didn't get the tardiness-prone genes."

"You're right." Charlie agreed. "Tommy is always so late. Was he always late in high school?"

"There's time for that later." Trini said, cutting Kim off before she could reply. "I say we go out for pizza now, and then when we come back Kim and I will tell you all of the embarrassing stories about Tommy that he would never want you to know. And I bet we know stories about Tommy that Jason doesn't."

"Pizza sounds good." Kim agreed. "Are we going to order it, or do you know a place here?"

"I saw this place earlier today while we were on our way to go save Tommy." Trini said.

"You saw something today?" Kim asked, amazed. "When we were on our way to Tommy's? When you were driving like a maniac?"

"I was driving quite normally, thank you very much." Trini said, lifting her chin up haughtily.

"She really was." Kim whispered to Charlie behind Trini's back as they walked back outside and got into the car again. "Like a normal maniac."

"I heard that!" Trini yelled.

"Why don't you drive." Charlie suggested to Kim.

"Good plan." Kim agreed, getting into the driver's seat. "Now, Trini, tell me where I'm going. I want food!"

Too bad she wasn't going to be able to get much to eat tonight…

**a/n-next chapter, the truth comes out! (that means tommy finds out, just so ya know) hope u liked it.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

"Finally!" Charlie exclaimed as they pulled into the parking lot of the pizza place. "It took forever to get here."

Kim glared at Trini. "I thought you said you knew where this place was." She said accusingly.

"I did." Trini said. "I just didn't know where it was from our house. Who knew it was only a couple of blocks away?"

"So," Charlie cut in, "Are we ordering pizza and taking it back to your house, or are we gonna stay here and eat it?"

"Let's take it back home." Trini said quickly. "That way we don't have to worry about being overheard when we tell you all of those embarrassing stories we promised you about Tommy and Jason."

"If we're bringing it home, then why did all of us have to come to get it?" Kim asked, as she pulled the door to the restaurant open.

"Family bonding time." Trini said offhandedly, walking ahead of Charlie and Kim. "There's nothing like mother-daughter bonding during the drive to and from a pizza place."

Charlie rose her eyebrows in the direction of Trini's back; Kim just rolled her eyes in response.

"Broccoli!" Trini said suddenly, as she examined the menu.

"What?"

"Broccoli." Trini repeated without turning around. "We need to have broccoli on the pizza."

"Are you _serious_?" Charlie demanded. "You eat _broccoli _on your _pizza_?"

"Yep." Trini nodded as Kim edged closer to Charlie.

"We think losing The Power permanently affected Trini's brain." Kim whispered in the younger girl's ear. "She hasn't been the same since high school."

"No one is." Charlie replied wisely. Kim smiled.

"Hey, Trini." Charlie continued, speaking louder now. "Just make sure you get extra cheese."

Trini nodded, as she finally turned around. "Anything special you want on the pizza, Kimmy?"

"Only get half-broccoli." Kim said firmly. "I refuse to eat _that_ on my pizza."

Trini nodded again, turned back around, and walked up to the counter to order. As she did this, Charlie and Kim sat down on the bench beside the door to wait for her. It was only a matter of minutes before Trini came back and sat with the two of them

"They said it should be done within twenty minutes." Trini said, leaning back against the bench.

"Good, I'm starving." Kim responded. "It's been a long day. Why is it always Tommy who makes everything harder? Even when we were rangers, he made everything difficult for us."

"Does that have to do with him being evil?" Charlie asked curiously.

"Everything we make fun of Tommy for has to do with him being evil." Trini said. "It's just one of those things that we never let him forget. It would be too nice of us to do that for him."

Kim nodded her agreement. "But there are also other things that have nothing to do with him being a ranger at all, that we made fun of him for." She pointed out. "Like how he was always late for everything."

"Things sure haven't changed since high school, then." Charlie said.

"Not at all." Trini agreed. "I remember this one time when I was babysitting you and we were waiting for him to come home and when he finally did come back…never mind about that actually." She finished suddenly, glancing at Charlie uneasily.

The younger girl was now sitting rigidly on the bench, her eyes wide with…shock, was it? No, it was another expression, one Kim had become quite familiar with in the past eleven years…It was a look of sorrow; the remembrance of a loss.

"Hey, isn't that our number?" Kim said suddenly, breaking the awkward silence.

"Finally!" Trini said, looking relieved as she stood up again. "I'm so hungry right now, I could give Rocky a run for his money."

"She must be really hungry, then." Kim muttered to Charlie, as Trini went to get their pizza. "Have you ever seen the way Rocky eats?"

It was a laughing mother and now cheerful daughter Trini walked back to a minute later, holding the pizza in a very possessive manner.

"Let's go." Trini said, ushering the pair towards the door. "I want to eat this while it's hot."

As she was about to walk out of the door, Charlie wasn't looking where she was going, and consequently ran into the man who was trying to walk into the restaurant.

"Oh, I'm sor—Tommy?" Charlie said, looking at her brother in shock. "Um…what are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" Tommy countered, looking just as surprised to be meeting his sister here.

"Tommy what are you…_Charlie_?" Jason said, appearing from behind Tommy with a worried expression on his face. "Wow…fancy meeting you here, huh?"

Tommy looked up from his little sister to see Trini and Kim standing behind her. Tommy's expression seemed to darken.

"You told me she was sleeping over at a friend's house." Tommy said to Jason, his glare resting on Kim, who decided to glare right back.

"Well…she is." Jason said slowly. "Trini and Charlie are friends."

"You know what I mean." Tommy snapped irritably.

"Dude, what's the hold-up?" A voice said from behind Tommy and Jason.

"Yeah, we dropped you off at the door so you could get us a table." Another voice chimed in. "Not so you could join a social club!"

"Zack? Adam?" Charlie asked in disbelief. "What are you two doing here?"

"Charlie!" Zack replied, somehow making his way into the restaurant to give Charlie a hug, with Adam not far behind. "I haven't seen you in ages." He paused for a moment and happened to glance at the people behind Charlie. "_Trini? Kim?_ What are you doing here?"

This seemed to bring Tommy back to earth. "Yes, what are the two of you doing here. _With my sister_."

Trini glanced at Kim when he said this, who bit her lip, but otherwise ignored the fact that Tommy had spoken.

"We were hungry." Charlie said after a moment of silence, in which Trini and Kim had a silent fight over who would be the one to answer Tommy's question. "So we decided to go out to get some pizza. Happy? We'll just leave now, then."

"Not so fast." Tommy said, holding up his hand as Charlie made to walk out the door. "Why are you with Trini and…Kim?"

"Why are you with Adam and Zack?" Charlie countered.

"That doesn't matter right now." Tommy said a bit harshly. "I want to know what you are doing here with the two of them!"

"Why don't we take this outside." Jason said, cutting in between the two Oliver's. "I think the manager's coming over now."

Tommy turned around and walked quickly out into the parking lot, stopping a short ways away from the door, right next to a bench. Everyone followed him, and Adam, Zack, and Trini all sat down on the bench. Jason remained standing just as a precaution, in case Tommy started to really lose his temper. Kim also remained standing just behind Charlie, acting as support for the young girl.

"You have five seconds." Tommy said shortly. "Explain."

Charlie took a deep breath as Zack succeeded in stealing Trini's pizza from her. But before she could say anything, Kim cut in and started talking.

"Don't get mad at Charlie, Tommy." Kim said quickly. "It wasn't her idea to stay over. It was mine. We were just talking after her lesson was over, and I could tell that she was having a hard time—living with just two men for company, you know. So I talked to Trini, and she agreed that we should invite Charlie over tonight for some girl time. When Jason came to pick her up, he thought it was a good idea, but he knew that you would never agree to it, so he told you that she was just staying over at a friend's house. You really can't get mad at Charlie for any of it, Tommy, she didn't have anything to do with it really."

Tommy was silent for a moment.

"I don't believe you." He said finally.

"Well I'm telling the truth." Kim snapped, losing her temper as she began to get worried that she would have to tell Tommy the real truth. The truth she had been keeping from him for eleven years.

"No, you aren't." Tommy retorted.

"Are too."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are not."

"Are too."

All the time that this was going on, the other four adults were watching in mild interest as they ate the broccoli pizza that Zack had stolen from Trini. Charlie, on the other hand, was staring at Tommy and Kim with rapt attention, her eyes sliding back and forth between the two as they argued.

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Stop." Charlie said suddenly, in a soft voice. "Both of you, just stop."

The fact that she had interrupted their arguing was enough to make Tommy and Kim become silent. Seeming to remember that there were five other people with them, they turned to face everyone else.

"You two need to stop this right now." Charlie continued in her soft voice. "You avoid each other constantly, and at every opportunity you get. And when you do have to be in even the same room as each other, you can't do anything better than glare at each other, or argue. It needs to stop now."

Charlie looked meaningfully at the two people before her; her parents.

"I want the two of you to talk to each other." Charlie informed them. "You have issues that need to be resolved." She stared pointedly at Kim. "Big issues."

For the first time, Kim glared at Charlie. "No." She said forcefully. "You can't make me."

"Watch me." Charlie replied.

"Don't do it, Char." Jason said, cutting in now. "As much as we don't want to admit it, she has to do it when she's ready. Nothing you can say or do will make her tell him any sooner."

"What are you talking about?" Tommy asked confusedly, looking from Jason to Charlie.

"Tommy." Charlie said pleasantly, turning to him, now that she would be unable to get Kim to talk. "What about you? Do you have anything you wish to say to K-Coach Hart, here? Anything at all…"

Tommy blinked slowly. After a moment, he turned to Kim with a stony expression on his face.

"You wanted me to talk, so I'm gonna talk." Tommy said, addressing Charlie as he looked at Kim, before giving Kim his full attention. "Kimberly Ann Hart, I hate you."

A shocked silence met his pronouncement. Tommy sent one last glare in Kim's direction, before turning on his heel and walking away.

"I'm sorry." Kim said softly, her eyes shining brightly with unshed tears.

Tommy stopped dead at her words. Without turning back around, he addressed her again, "About what?"

"About what I did; the decisions I made." Kim said in her soft voice. "And about what I'm about to do…"

Tommy was silent, waiting for his ex-girlfriend to clarify herself.

"I'm sorry, Tommy." Kim said again, the tears in her eyes threatening to spill over. "I'm sorry I never told you."

"Tell me what?" Tommy interrupted crossly, actually turning around this time.

"If you didn't interrupt, then she would tell you." Zack pointed out from his place on the bench, where he was enjoying a piece of pizza heaped with broccoli.

Tommy barely spared his old friend a second glance.

"Tell me what?" He repeated.

Kim looked straight into Tommy's eyes; the eyes their daughter had inherited. Tears were now running freely down Kim's cheeks.

"Charlie…" Kim began slowly, pausing to take a deep, shuttering breath. "Charlie is our daughter."

**a/n-sorry it took awhile. school started and all of that. i'll try to get the next chapter out soon. oh yeah, me and my sister are co-authoring a PR story, the link's in my profile.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Zack started gagging on his pizza, and Adam patted him on the back a bit absentmindedly as he gazed intently at his two former teammates.

Trini was looking at Kim with approval on her face, while Jason stood up again in case Tommy really did lose it this time. Charlie was looking at Tommy with a hopeful expression.

But Tommy could only stare at Kim when she said this. His eyes were locked with hers, searching them to see if she was telling the truth.

Kim, meanwhile, was looking at Tommy resolutely, not backing down from Tommy's intense gaze.

"I can't believe you." Tommy said finally.

Kim looked taken-aback at these words, and her tears finally stopped flowing.

"You _can't_ believe me?" She said, laughing hollowly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's supposed to mean that I can't believe you never told me that. If it's true, that is." Tommy replied.

"I can't believe _you_!" Kim retaliated, her voice level rising. "You think I would lie about something like this? What's wrong with you?"

"There's nothing wrong with _me_." Tommy said icily. "_You're_ the one who never told me we had a daughter."

Kim took a deep breath as she glared at Tommy.

"And you're the one who never bothered to see why I had broken up with you." She said, softly now.

Tommy, who had opened his mouth to say something in reply, faltered now. "This…This is why you broke up with me? Because we were going to have a baby."

Kim's abandoned tears began to well up in her eyes again. "Yes." She said softly.

The glare returned to Tommy's face, now.

"You're unbelievable." He said in a disgusted tone, as his eyes seemed to flash green.

With those final words, he turned around once more, and walked off into the parking lot. This time, Kim didn't say anything to stop him from leaving.

Once Tommy had disappeared from sight, Charlie wrapped her arms around Kim in comfort. That was when she finally broke down.

Kim started sobbing softly into her daughter's hair. "He hates me." Was all she could say.

Jason made to go comfort Kim as well, but Trini grabbed his arm to stop him. She nodded her head in Charlie's direction, as if to say 'let her do it.'

"You'll be okay." Charlie was saying, as she hugged Kim tightly. "You'll see…Mom."

Slowly, Kim's tears disappeared. While still holding on tightly to Charlie, she looked up at Trini.

"I think we should go home now." Kim said softly. She turned to Jason then, a questioning look on her face.

"Charlie should stay with you two tonight." Jason said resolutely. "Tommy needs some time to calm down. Don't worry about him, Kimmy, he just needs to be able to understand."

Kim nodded, and with her arm still around her daughter, the two of them began walking back towards their car. Trini turned to Adam and Zack now.

"We'll catch up tomorrow." She told them. "You can get my number from Jason."

Adam nodded. "See you, Trini."

"Take care of Kim, Trini." Zack added in. "I don't know what Tommy was thinking when he said those things."

Trini smiled sadly. "Me either. Bye, guys, I'll see you tomorrow."

Then, she turned as well, and walked back to the car, where Kim and Charlie were waiting. As soon as their car had pulled out of the parking lot, Jason turned back to his two former teammates.

"We need to get back to the house. I don't even want to start thinking about what Tommy's going to do, now that he finally knows the truth." He informed them.

Both men nodded in agreement.

"I'll drive." Adam offered.

When they got back to Tommy, Jason, and Charlie's house, they found Tommy's car parked out front.

"At least we know he's home." Zack said.

"Yeah, he's home." Adam agreed. "And probably with a few more speeding tickets than he had before."

"It's was probably a bit more than a few." Jason said, examining the skid marks on the driveway. "But never mind about that, we should see what damage he did to the inside of the house."

Cautiously, the three former power rangers entered the house. They were quite surprised to find nothing out of place. It looked as if Tommy hadn't even been here. Except for the shoes lying haphazardly in the middle of the front hall and the jacket a few feet behind it, on the ground.

"This could be a good sign." Zack said hopefully. "He hasn't permanently damaged anything, yet."

"Don't jinx it." Jason hissed. "That's like saying nothing bad could possibly happen. And guess what happens next? The person who said that is suddenly dead."

"Did you hear that?" Adam asked suddenly, cutting off Zack's reply. "It sounded like it came from the kitchen."

Jason's face drained of all color. "The kitchen?" He said worriedly.

As Adam nodded, Jason took off running.

"Wait!" Zack called to Jason's back. "What's so bad about weird noises in the kitchen?"

"They weren't 'weird' noises." Adam said, as he, too, took off running. "They were the sounds of destruction."

"But it's just a kitchen." Zack protested, starting to run so he could catch up with his friends. "What's the big deal?"

He said that last part just as he was entering the kitchen. He stopped dead when he saw Jason and Adam standing over a gaping hole in the kitchen floor.

"Why does Tommy have a trap door in his kitchen floor?" Zack asked slowly.

"Remember earlier, when we were talking about Tommy being a ranger again?" Jason questioned as he slowly descended the stairs. "Their base is under this house."

"At least Tommy won't get lost going there, then." Adam whispered as he followed Jason down the stairs.

The three men remained silent as they descended the last few stairs, so Tommy wouldn't here them if he was down there. The sight that met their eyes when they walked into the darkened dino lair was a very unusual one…at least for Adam and Zack. Tommy was sitting in front of one of the computers.

"Tommy, bro', what are you doing?" Jason asked as he slowly approached Tommy.

"I'm watching the video." Tommy said in an eerily calm voice.

"What video?" Zack asked curiously, inching closer to the screen so he could see.

"The video history of the power rangers." Tommy answered in the same voice as before.

Jason just watched Tommy for a moment, before speaking again.

"Bro' are you okay?" Jason asked in a concerned voice.

Tommy's whole body seemed to stiffen when Jason said this.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Tommy asked through clenched teeth. "There's nothing wrong with me. Nothing at all. I'm perfectly fine. I just found out that the woman I loved broke up with me in high school because she was pregnant with our daughter—which she neglected to tell me. And then my parents adopted that same daughter I never knew I had, and I've been raising her as my sister for over five years. No, nothing's at all is wrong with me. How about you?"

"Tommy." Jason said slowly. "Maybe she had a good reason for doing it. Think about it for a moment, will you? When she found out she was pregnant with your kid, she was training to become a Pan Globalist, and you were the red Zeo ranger. That's reason enough for her not to tell you. What do you think would have happened if Zedd, or King Mondo, found out that you had a kid?"

"But she didn't even try to tell me after I stopped being a ranger." Tommy stated. "She didn't have to break up with me. We could have worked it out. I could have given up being ranger. I would have done that for them."

"No, you wouldn't have." Adam cut in. "I was on at least three different teams with you, Tommy. I think that says enough right there. You're on what, your fourth color by now? You say you would have quit being a power ranger for Kim and your daughter, but the truth is, you have one of them right now, and you're still a ranger. I'm not saying I support what Kim did, but I can see how she did what she thought was best. And its not as if you missed out on anything with Charlie, is it? You were there for more than Kim was."

"I missed out on being a father." Tommy said softly. "I was Charlie's brother, not her father."

"But you were there for her." Zack insisted. "You might not have been there in the right role, but you were there for Charlie when she needed you. And being her older brother, you were probably closer to her than you would have been as her parent. When you were Charlie's brother, you were her equal; the person she could talk to whenever she needed it."

"All of that still doesn't change the fact that Kim never told me she was pregnant." Tommy said resolutely, still staring at the computer screen, which was frozen on the image of Kim when she first received her pink ranger powers.

"I was the first one to see Kim after she had the baby." Jason began softly. "It was a month after, and I'd had no idea Kim had even been pregnant. Heck, I didn't find out she ever had a baby until this afternoon. But Tommy, I could tell something was wrong with her. You saw her at Muranthias; she used to be so full of life, back before she had the baby. If you hadn't been so set on avoiding her, you would have seen her gain it all back as she coached Charlie-"

"I don't care." Tommy said suddenly. "None of it matters. Kim didn't tell me, and that's the end of it."

"Would you just grow up about it already?!" Adam suddenly exploded. "Yes, we understand that you're hurt Kim didn't tell you she was pregnant with your daughter. We know that you were heartbroken when she broke up with you. We get that you're in shock over finding out that your younger sister is really your daughter. We get all of that, Tommy; we understand. But you need to stop moping around and actually do something about it! It's not doing anyone any good with you sitting here in your secret underground lair, reminiscing about the past."

"Well, then, what do you want me to do?" Tommy said, finally turning around so that he was facing his three friends as he spoke to them. "Do you want me to go knock on Kim's door and demand that she explain everything to me?"

"That would be a good place to start." Zack reasoned.

"But not right now." Jason said quickly. "You just told the woman we all know you still love, that you hate her. You need to stay in for the rest of the night and cool down. You'll be able to have a nice little chat with Kim tomorrow when she drops Charlie off."

"Kim has Charlie?" Tommy asked suddenly. "Why would you let Kim take Charlie home with her? You can't do that."

"Well, we did." Jason said resolutely. "So get over it. Right now, Kim needs Charlie more than you do. And face it, would you really want to see Charlie tonight, after you just learned the truth about who she is?"

Tommy sighed.

"No." He said after a moment. "But I'll kill you if you ever do something like that again. Charlie is my responsibility." His face hardened then. "Kim gave that up."

Jason just shook his head in defeat.

"Whatever, bro'. We'll be upstairs." He said, motioning to himself, Zack, and Adam.

Tommy nodded and turned around again as the three other men turned and began to walk back up to the kitchen.

"Hey," Tommy heard Zack say, "Do you know how we can get in touch with Billy and the others? We really need to tell them about Tommy's sudden color change…"

Tommy shook his head slightly as he continued to stare at Kim's picture. How Zack could still think about what had happened earlier in the day was beyond him. Tommy was still having trouble processing the day's revelations.

Surprisingly, though, it didn't seem to affect him the way he would have thought it would. Somewhere, deep inside of himself, Tommy thought he had always known that he and Charlie were connected on a much deeper level. Kim, on the other hand, was a totally different matter.

Tommy thought to himself as he angrily hit the play button. 

Tommy sat there unmoving for a while until the scene on the monitor shifted to show Kim giving up her pink ranger powers to Katherine. If only that had never happened, then maybe, just maybe, he would have known about Charlie from the beginning. And then they would have been a real family.

Tommy thought to himself. His face suddenly brightened. _But if I do talk to Kim tomorrow, then maybe we will get that chance…_

**a/n-and so ends the day that has been taking place since half-way through Chapter Four.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

The next morning, Charlie woke up to the bright sunlight streaming in through the open window. For a moment, she wondered where she was; her room never got sun in the morning. But then the previous day's events all came rushing back to her.

Tommy was a ranger again.

Coach Hart was her mother.

Tommy wasn't her brother; he was her father.

Trini liked broccoli pizza.

Adam and Zack had come for a visit…and to make fun of Tommy for having a fourth color.

Tommy had said he hated Kim.

Tommy said he didn't believe Charlie was his daughter.

Tommy had walked away from them; he had left.

Charlie sat up and untangled her legs from the blankets she had been using as she slept on the floor. Glancing to her right, she saw that Kim was still sleeping, with a peaceful expression on her face. She obviously wasn't dreaming about what had happened the day before. With another glance over her shoulder, Charlie saw Trini fast asleep on the couch, her head practically touching the ground, as she lay halfway off the couch.

With an amused shake of her head, Charlie stood up and carefully stepped over Kim. It took her a moment to get her bearings in the unfamiliar house, but she quickly made up her mind, and headed in the direction of what she hoped was the kitchen.

Once there, she began pulling out food and different bowls and pans. Charlie tried to be as quiet as possible as she started to cook breakfast, but it evidently wasn't quiet enough because Trini came stumbling into the kitchen a few minutes later.

"What are you doing?" Trini asked sleepily as she tried to stifle a yawn.

"I'm making breakfast." Charlie said simply. "I do it all the time at home."

"Tommy makes you cook for him?" Trini asked suspiciously. "You're only ten!"

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, he doesn't _make_ me do it. I just learned from a very early age that if I want an edible meal I should cook it myself. Tommy's helpless in a kitchen."

Trini nodded in agreement. "But still, you're only ten. Tommy honestly leaves you alone in the kitchen, where you could possibly blow something up?"

"He won't let me cook anything if he's not there." Charlie told her. "And sometimes he tries to help. But seriously, Tommy's the only one in the family who blows stuff up. Didn't Jase tell you about the island he blew up a couple of months ago?"

"Tommy blew up an island?" Trini said incredulously.

"Yep." Charlie replied as she mixed the eggs in a bowl. "Of course, it didn't help much. The tyrranadrones all survived."

"Tommy already tried to destroy those things before they showed up here?" Trini asked.

"Tommy helped _create_ them." Charlie said offhandedly. "And he thinks they followed him here."

Trini practically shouted. "OK, you and I need to have a talk about your brother. If all that just happened to him within the past few months, I _need_ to know what he's been up to for the past five and a half years." 

For the next half-hour or so Charlie alternated between making breakfast and filling Trini in on what she had missed by not staying in contact with Tommy over the years. By the time the food was all ready, Trini knew practically every single thing that had happened in Charlie and Tommy's lives since their adoptive parents had died.

"I'll go get Kim." Trini said, when all the food had been put on the kitchen table.

"No, I'll get her." Charlie said quickly.

"Okay." Trini said with a shrug, eyeing the stack of pancakes hungrily.

Charlie exited the kitchen and walked back into the living room to find Kim still curled up asleep in front of the TV. Taking care not to step on her, Charlie crouched down next to Kim.

"Mom…" Charlie said softly, shaking Kim's shoulder a bit. "Mom…wake up…"

"Wassamatter?" Kim said groggily, rubbing her eyes as she slowly sat up.

"It's morning, mom-" Charlie began.

"Oh no!" Kim practically shouted, now fully awake. "I should be at the studio by now. I never sleep this late. Why didn't someone wake me earlier?"

"It's Sunday, mom." Charlie said slowly. "You didn't have to get up to go to the studio today. No classes, remember?"

"…Sunday." Kim repeated slowly. She looked down at Charlie for a moment. "Did you just call me 'mom'?"

A red-tinged blush started to creep up Charlie's cheeks when she said this.

"Yes." Charlie said softly, avoiding Kim's gaze.

Kim knelt down so she was level with Charlie, who was still sitting on the ground, next to where Kim had been fast asleep just moments before.

"Thank you." Kim replied in equally soft tones. Her lips curved into a small smile. "Now, what was so important that you had to wake me up on a Sunday morning for?"

"I made breakfast." Charlie said brightly, instantly forgetting her momentary shyness.

Kim rose her eyebrows at the girl.

"Don't worry," Charlie began quickly, "Trini was there, and I was very careful anyway. Besides, I do it all the time for Tommy, at home, cuz I really don't want to die from food poisoning."

"I always knew I would have smart kids." Kim commented as she and Charlie walked into the kitchen together.

"My kids will be smarter." Trini informed them, her mouth full of pancake.

"But you don't have kids now, so it doesn't count." Kim retorted.

"Eat." Charlie commanded.

Once they had all finished eating, Trini pushed Charlie and Kim out of the kitchen, claiming that they needed more time to bond, since nothing had been accomplished last night. After they were back in the living room, Kim turned to Charlie.

"So," She began, "What'd you want to bond over?"

Charlie couldn't help it; she burst out laughing when Kim said this. "Trini is so weird."

Kim grinned. "I went to high school with that girl. If you think this is weird, you should have seen her then. Especially after we became power rangers."

"What was high school like?" Charlie asked curiously. "They never talk about it when I'm around."

"High school was great." Kim said vaguely. "Even if we did have Bulk and Skull there."

"Bulk and Skull…" Charlie repeated.

"They were bullies." Kim supplied, then she wrinkled her nose. "Skull had a crush on me."

"I've met them!" Charlie said suddenly.

"You've met Bulk and Skull?" Kim said incredulously. "When did you meet them?"

"We went on vacation a few months ago," Charlie explained, "And we went to this place called Club Bulkmeier. Tommy got this phone call and he got all excited about it. Then he called Hayley, and she came and stayed with me while he disappeared for a bit."

Kim was silent for a moment. "It was a few months ago?"

"Yeah." Charlie said, nodding.

Kim rolled her eyes. "That was the Red's Mission to the Moon."

"You and Trini were talking about that, back in the lab, with Jason." Charlie remembered. "Didn't he ditch you two at dinner or something like that?"

"Yep." Kim said. "Then we killed him when he came back a few days later. Man, I wish there were more pinks. Reds are so lucky that there are so many of them."

Charlie shrugged. "You never know. One day there might be more pinks. Personally, knowing that there were so many reds, I'd rather be one of them. Even if they are all guys."

Kim was about to respond, when the phone started ringing.

"I've got it!" Trini yelled from the kitchen. "Keep bonding in there."

"That sounds so wrong." Charlie stated.

"That's Trini." Kim replied.

"Shit!" Came Trini's voice from the kitchen.

"So is that." Kim said. She looked sternly at Charlie. "Don't repeat that, ever."

Charlie rolled her eyes. "I know."

Just then, Trini came running into the living room, looking like a crazy person with the phone in one hand and a soap-covered plate in the other.

"Where's the fire?" Kim asked her calmly, a smirk on her face.

"That was Jason." Trini stated.

The smile disappeared from Kim's face. "What did he want?"

"It's Tommy." Trini said worriedly. "He wants to come over. Jason said Tommy wants to talk to you."

* * *

"Was that Kim? What did she say?" Was the first thing Tommy said when Jason hung up the phone.

"That was Trini." Jason said slowly. "She said she'd give Kim the message."

"Kim's gonna run." Tommy said nervously. "She's mad at me for what I said last night, I know she is."

"She does deserve that much." Jason said. Tommy glared at him. "But she won't run. Kim doesn't run from anything."

"What about telling me the truth?" Tommy asked softly. "What about raising Charlie?"

"Everybody makes mistakes." Jason said firmly. "What Kim did, she did to protect you. You _and_ Charlie. I'm not gonna lie, I think Kim should have told you sooner, but you have to understand where she was coming from, 'bro. If you knew the real reason she did everything she did, you would understand."

Tommy opened his mouth to interrupt, but Jason kept going. "And you'll find all that out later. Kim will stay, and you two will talk." Jason paused to look menacingly at his best friend. "But you won't say anything mean to her. You will be _nice_, and you will let her talk." Then he smiled brightly. "And then you can tell Kimmy that you don't really hate her, and that you think the two of you are perfect for each other and you should get married tonight."

Tommy's eyes went wide. "And I should tell you that you've had too much caffeine this morning."

Jason nodded. "Very true. Now, go get ready. I'll call the hotel and tell Zack and Adam what we're doing. They might want to come with. They wanted to talk to Trini about calling Billy."

Tommy had been about to walk out of the kitchen when Jason said that, but he turned around immediately.

"Billy is happy on Aquitar." Tommy said slowly and in a deliberately calm voice. "He doesn't care about what's going on, here on Earth. Billy doesn't care that I'm on my fourth color now."

"Don't you wish." Jason replied. "But go get dressed, already. I told Trini we'd be there in half an hour."

Twenty minutes later, the two men were in Tommy's Jeep, having already called Adam and Zack to tell them their plans. Now, they were on their way to Trini and Kim's house. When Jason finally pulled up in front of the address Kim had given him a month ago, Tommy's jaw dropped.

"I can't believe them." Tommy said softly. "I don't even want to know how they found this place."

"Get over it." Jason said, getting out of the car. "It's just a purple house."

"Just?" Tommy said incredulously. "It's _purple_."

"And our place looks orange in a certain light." Jason retorted. "Even after we give up the power, we still let it rule our lives." He glanced at Tommy. "Of course, that only applies to those of us who actually _stay_ out of uniform."

"This coming from the guy who came back to be the first gold ranger, and then came back again as the first ranger for the Mission to the Moon." Tommy said as he made his way up to the front door.

"But that's only two colors." Jason said, ringing the doorbell. "Only two. And you were the first person Andros called to go to the moon."

"And then I automatically called you right away, after Andros called me." Tommy replied.

"Years from now, they're probably going to call you the greatest ranger ever, or something like that." Jason said with a shake of his head. "And all because you don't know when to give up."

"Would like to come in?" Trini's voice interrupted from behind them. "Or would you like to stay out here all day, arguing about…whatever it is you were arguing about."

"Of course we'll come in, won't we, Tommy?" Jason said brightly to the now queasy-looking Tommy, who could only nod in response.

"Wonderful." Trini said, moving aside so that the two men could walk into the house. "They're right through here."

Trini led Tommy and Jason into the dining room, where Charlie was sitting at the head of the table, with Kim on her right.

"Sit there." Trini told Tommy, pointing to the seat to Charlie's left. She grabbed Jason's hand. "Bye then, you three. We'll just be downstairs. Charlie, you're in charge."

"When are Zack and Adam gonna be here?" They heard Trini's voice say, as she and Jason went down to the basement. "They're gonna want to talk to Billy, too."

With a deep breath, Tommy turned to face Kim.

"I wanted to say I was sorry," Tommy began. "I shouldn't have said what I said last night."

Kim only nodded, refusing to say anything as she sat there with her arms crossed. Charlie kept silent as well, knowing that this was something her…parents…had to work out on their own.

"I don't really hate you." Tommy continued steadily, not to be deterred by Kim's silence. "I was just…upset. What you said…well, I wasn't really expecting it. But I am sorry. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you."

After a moment of continued silence, Kim sighed.

"You had every right to be mad at me." She said, her shoulders sagging in defeat. "I was the one who kept our daughter hidden from you for eleven years. I should have told you about her years ago. It's okay that you were mad at me."

"But I shouldn't have gotten so worked-up about it." Tommy argued. "Even if you don't care that I got mad, I still want to apologize. I wasn't really acting like a responsible adult then."

Kim gave him a small grin. "You're right. You weren't." She gave another sigh now. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the baby. If I had, you wouldn't have to be apologizing to me right now."

Tommy hesitated here for a moment. "Kim," he began, "Why didn't you tell me about her?"

"It was my mother." Kim said softly. "I was going to tell you. Really, I was. But I wanted to tell her first, before I went back to Angel Grove. She was so…mad, when I called her. I haven't spoken to her since. Good riddance, if you ask me. But anyway, after she hung up on me I started to have doubts. I thought you might react the same way when I told you." She shook her head slightly here. "I should have known better. But we were seventeen, what was I supposed to think? Then I started thinking about how you were still a power ranger, and I knew that if I did tell you, the baby would be in danger, because she would be targeted as being the daughter of a power ranger."

"I understand." Tommy finally said after a moment of silence. "You really did do the right thing. And it wasn't all bad; I still got to know my daughter. I just thought she was my sister."

"Yeah, and those two are really the same thing, aren't they?" Kim said sarcastically.

"At least I got to know her." Tommy said in a sympathetic voice.

"I gave it up knowingly." Kim said firmly, she grinned here. "Besides, I got to be her gymnastics coach. Even if it was only for a little while, I got to be a part of my daughter's life."

"You could still be a part of her life." Tommy said suddenly. Both Kim and Charlie's head jerked in his direction when he said this. "If you wanted to, that is."

"You really mean it?" Kim questioned, glancing briefly at Charlie, who had a hopeful look on her face.

Tommy nodded. "She's your daughter too, Kim. I want you to be a part of her life."

A small smile graced Kim's face as he spoke. "Thank you." She said softly. "This means a lot to me."

"No problem." Tommy said with a shrug.

The two sat there, across the table from each other in a peaceful silence, until Charlie broke it.

"Hold up, you two." Charlie said suddenly. "I have a problem here."

"What?" Tommy asked.

"Two problems, actually." Charlie corrected herself. "First of all, what am I supposed to call you two? Coach Hart and Tommy just don't seem to fit anymore."

Kim glanced at Tommy with a questioning look on his face.

"Well, I guess I don't mind you calling me dad." He said. "It'll be a little weird for a while, but I'll get used to it."

"Me too." Kim said. "Although I'd much prefer it if you called me mom, not dad."

"Good." Charlie said with a grin. "Now, onto my second problem, what about you two?"

"What about us?" Kim said.

"We've established that you don't hate her anymore." Charlie said looking at Tommy. She turned to Kim now. "And that you regret never telling him about me. So, you're going to be my parents now. But what are you going to be to each other?"

As if on cue, Tommy and Kim both sighed at the same time.

"The air might be clear between us now," Kim began, "But it's still been eleven years. We've been through a lot."

Tommy nodded his agreement. "For now, it would be best for both of us if we were just friends." He looked at Kim. "Friends?"

She smiled.

"Friends." She agreed.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

"That's my head!"

"Well _sorry_! I can't exactly see where I'm going, you know."

"You could be more careful."

"_You_ could stop whining like a little baby."

Kim shook her head sadly. "Men. They can't do anything right."

Charlie smiled. "It's just a Christmas tree. It shouldn't be _that_ hard to get in the door."

Nearly two and a half months had passed since Tommy and Kim had finally talked things out after their ten-year separation. Now, it was the first weekend in December, and with Holiday spirit, Tommy, Jason, Kim, and Charlie had all gone out to pick out a Christmas tree for Tommy's house. Everything had been going well until the two men had attempted to carry the tree into the house.

"You try working as a team with this guy." Jason said, jerking his head through the tree's branches in Tommy's direction. "Doesn't understand the concept of teamwork."

No sooner had he said this than Tommy shoved the tree the rest of the way through the door making Jason almost fall over. Kim shuddered at the near miss.

"I can't bear to watch this any longer." She informed the two men. "I'm gonna go back to the house and see if Trini finished baking those cookies yet."

"Make sure you bring some of them back with you." Tommy said as Kim edged around him to go out the front door.

"Nourishment!" Jason said exuberantly, while trying to avoid practically falling over again.

Kim nodded, and Tommy gave the tree another push to make Jason start moving again. Charlie winced as Jason succeeded in falling flat on his back this time.

"I think I'll come with you, mom!" Charlie called out after Kim. She glanced at Tommy, as she was about to leave the house. "I'll be back soon, dad."

Tommy look thoughtfully at Kim's car as it pulled out of the driveway, while Jason struggled to get up from underneath the tree.

"I take it back." Tommy said suddenly.

"Take what back?" Jason grunted, as he shoved a branch out of his way. "Knocking me over with the Christmas tree?"

"Saying that I would get used to her calling me that." Tommy replied, ignoring the second question. "I'll never get used to that."

"Know what would help?" Jason said, finally managing to stand up.

"What?" Tommy said, turning back to his friend.

"If you and Kim started going out again, I moved out, you asked her to marry you, you get married, and she moves in here." Jason stated. "Don't really care much what order you do it in."

Tommy sighed defeatedly. "I've been wanting to do that for ages. But I can't; not now. The Dino rangers still need me. Maybe once this whole mess is over with I'll get around to it."

"You, my friend," Jason began, "Have serious issues sorting out the priorities in life. Who cares if the world gets reverted back to pre-historic times, as long as you have your true love?"

Tommy rose his eyebrows at Jason.

"I spend too much time with Trini." Jason said with a shrug.

A smirk appeared on Tommy's face. "Speaking of you and Trini…"

"Christmas tree." Jason interrupted, lifting it back up again. "And this time, do you think you could try to _avoid_ knocking me over with it?"

"Trini!" Charlie hollered as she walked into the house. "Where are you?"

"Kitchen!" Trini called back.

"Hey Rita." Charlie said as she walked past the cat on her way to the back of the house, where the kitchen was.

Upon entering the kitchen, she opened her mouth to greet Trini, but stopped dead when she saw an unfamiliar woman sitting at the kitchen table.

"Hello." The woman said, giving Charlie a smile.

Trini turned around as she spoke. "Oh, Char, this is—"

"Aisha!" Kim yelled, coming up behind Charlie.

"Kim!" The woman at the table-Aisha-exclaimed excitedly. "I haven't seen you in ages, girl."

"You're the one who's been in Africa since forever." Kim said in a mock-accusatory voice, after giving her old friend a hug.

"I got in touch with her a couple months ago." Trini said from over near the oven, which she was taking a tray of cookies out of. "We wanted to surprise you for Christmas."

"How long are you going to be here?" Kim said eagerly. "We have so much to catch up on. I haven't seen you since I left for Florida."

"As long as I want to be here." Aisha said with a shrug. "So, what's been up with you lately?"

"I thought we should tell her about the expanded rainbow together." Trini told Kim with a grin.

"…Expanded rainbow?" Aisha repeated, eyebrows raised. "What's that code for?"

Kim grinned evilly. "Do you know what happened when the Zeo team was formed?"

"They got new powers?" Aisha said with a shrug.

Trini gave a small chuckle. "Oh, it was much more than that. You see, our darling Tommy became the red ranger. That would be his third color, not that we're counting of course."

"Of course." Aisha replied with an amused grin and raised eyebrows.

"Recently, Tommy, Charlie, and Jason moved here, to Reefside, where a new team of rangers appeared not so long after." Kim continued. "A little less than a week after they appeared, a new ranger joined them; a black ranger. A ranger who, to the trained eye, looked like an experienced ranger."

"He didn't." Aisha gasped.

"Oh, he did." Trini said. "Tommy Oliver, the ranger who won't give it up. Now we're counting: he's on his fourth color."

"That guy has issues." Aisha muttered, shaking her head. As she did this though, she caught sight of Charlie again. "Um…who are you again?"

Trini looked at Kim meaningfully. "I only told her about what I've been up to. I left all the good stuff for you."

"That's only cuz none of the good stuff happened to you." Kim retorted, before turning to face her old teammate. "This," She said, pulling Charlie to her side, "Is Charlie Oliver—"

"You're Tommy's sister." Aisha said suddenly. "Rocky told me about you."

"Rocky doesn't know the whole story." Kim informed her. "Charlie here, isn't Tommy's sister. They were just adopted by the same people. Charlie, is Tommy's daughter."

Aisha's jaw dropped.

"Tommy has a kid?" She asked in disbelief.

"He's not the only one." Trini muttered.

"…But if she's Tommy's kid," Aisha continued, "Then how come she looks kind of like you, Kim?"

"You don't honestly think I just appeared out of thin air and proclaimed myself Tommy's daughter, do you?" Charlie said.

"Charlie." Kim said sharply. "You're only allowed to talk like that to Jason. We actually like Aisha."

"It's okay, Kim." Aisha said with a wave of her hand. "Besides, we all know you really don't care about that. You're just trying to avoid answering my question."

"Kim's my mom." Charlie told her. "Since she's never gonna tell you that."

Aisha mock sighed here. "Kimmy, you're such an irresponsible teenager. How old are you, Charlie, ten?"

"I turned eleven in September." Charlie said with a proud grin that was almost immediately wiped off her face. "Of course, there was a battle right in the middle of my party, and dad got stuck in amber."

"It took forever to get him out of it." Trini said. "And then when we finally got him out, he was stuck in morph."

"That guy has _serious_ issues." Aisha declared. "So, when do I get to see him?"

"We came back to get some cookies." Charlie told Trini. "Are they done?"

"You can have those." Trini said, pointing at a plate heaped with cookies, on top of the kitchen table.

"That should be enough." Kim said picking up the plate. She turned back to Aisha. "Wanna come back to Jason and Tommy's place with us?"

"They're trying to put up the Christmas tree." Charlie said with a shudder.

"Now that, I've got to see." Aisha said. She grabbed Charlie and Kim's arms. "Let's go. See you later, Trini. Don't forget what we talked about."

"I won't." Trini called out after her as they left the kitchen, and walked back to the front door.

"What did you two talk about that was so important Trini couldn't forget?" Kim asked curiously, as she started her car, taking a moment to look at Aisha, who was sitting in the passenger seat beside her.

"Nothing." Aisha said, feigning innocence as she turned around in her seat to face Charlie. "So, Charlie, tell me, what's life like living with four of the original power rangers?"

"It's…fine." Charlie said slowly, looking at Aisha strangely.

"Don't mind her." Kim said, glancing at her daughter through the rearview mirror. "She's just a little excited about being back. Plus, none of us are entirely sure what the side affects were from being teenage super heroes. You know what Trini's like."

"And Jason." Charlie added. "But Tommy's the worst."

"Tell me about Tommy." Aisha cut in. "I haven't seen him since high school. Does he still have the long hair?"

"Of course not." Kim said. "My amazing daughter over there cut it off when she was five. Besides, he wouldn't look like a responsible and mature paleontologist with all of that hair. And the ponytail reminds me of a hippie."

"Back up for a sec." Aisha said. "Tommy's a paleontologist?"

"Dr. Oliver." Charlie put in. "But all of his students call him Dr. O."

"Students?" Aisha asked in disbelief. "He's a teacher?"

"High school science." Said Kim. "And remember how he's the new black ranger? The other rangers are his students."

Aisha shook her head slightly. "That guy sure has changed since high school. So, what's Jason been up to then?"

"Didn't Trini tell you anything?" Kim said.

Aisha shook her head. "She didn't say much about anyone else. We just caught up on what we've done since the last time we saw each other, when her and the others passed on their powers."

"Well, about six months ago, she convinced me to move here with her, and we opened up a gymnastics studio. Two months after that, she and Jason opened up a dojo attached to it."

"No juice bar?" Aisha asked, smirking.

"Actually, Tommy's friend, Hayley owns a Cyber Café, and it's like right next door." Kim replied. "You'll probably meet her soon. She's also the Dino Thunder teams Billy and Alpha combined into one."

Aisha sighed. "I miss Billy. I haven't seen him in years."

"Me either." Kim replied. "With the whole Florida thing, and then Charlie, I sort of lost contact with everyone, until Jase and Trini found me in LA."

"We're here." Charlie announced, as Kim pulled up in front of Tommy's house.

Kim frowned as she got out of the car and saw the front door wide open, with the tree lying abandoned just inside of it.

"Something is wrong here." Kim muttered, cautiously approaching the house.

"Do you think there was an attack?" Charlie asked, hurrying to catch up with her mother. "Maybe they had to go to the lab."

Kim nodded slowly as she peeked inside of the door. With a wave of her hand, she motioned for Charlie and Aisha to follow her.

"Be quiet." Kim whispered, putting a finger to her lips.

With soft and careful footsteps, the three of them walked past the tree, through the house, and in to the kitchen, to find the trapdoor wide open. Taking the lead once more, Kim descended the stairs first, with Charlie and Aisha close behind her. Once they reached the lab, it was to find the four Dino rangers, Jason, and Hayley all down there, monitoring something on the computer.

"Hey guys." Kim said, looking relieved. "What's going on?"

"The computer's picked up a disturbance in the area, like five minutes ago." Tommy replied without looking up. "There's an energy source somewhere close that the computer doesn't recognize. We aren't sure if it's one of Mesogog's goons, or some tyrannadrones, or a monster, or maybe another egg, or even—"

"An old teammate who's Ninjetti powers the computer doesn't know?" Aisha offered.

As one, all six people stopped moving at once, and turned to look at the woman dressed in yellow, standing in between Charlie and Kim.

"Aisha!" Tommy exclaimed, jumping up from his chair, and running over to give his old teammate a hug.

As he was doing this, Hayley stepped over to his abandoned computer, and started typing away like mad on the keyboard. A moment later, she looked up with a sheepish expression on her face.

"I found the source of the disturbance." She said. "You're right, it was your old powers. I'm Hayley, by the way."

"Hello." Aisha said pleasantly, after Tommy had let go of her and she had given Jason a hug as well. "My name's Aisha. I was the second yellow power ranger."

"That's so cool!" Kira said suddenly, her eyes bright. She took a step forward. "I'm Kira, current yellow."

"Nice to meet you." Aisha said. She turned to Ethan and Conner. "Blue and Red?"

They nodded.

"That's Conner." Tommy said, pointing at the boy in red. "And that's Ethan. So, what are you doing here?"

Aisha smiled. "I'm here to surprise Kim for Christmas. I guess Trini wanted it to be a surprise for you two as well."

"How long are you staying?" Jason asked.

Aisha shrugged. "As long as I want. I've got a lot to catch up on. It's been a while." At this point, she rounded on Tommy, an evil grin on her face. "So, I here you've had another addition to your wardrobe."

Tommy groaned. "How long is this going to go on for? Aren't you people ever going to get tired of me being the black ranger?"

Jason let out a chuckle. "Tommy, Tommy, Tommy." He said, shaking his head. "It's just too easy to make fun of you. It's never going to end."

"Unless something happens and one of gets called back into duty again." Kim said quickly. She shot Jason a glare here. "Of course, I hope that person is smart enough to not run off without telling anybody."

Aisha shot her a questioning glance.

"The reds had a mission to the moon." Kim explained. "I'll tell you about it later. Eh, never mind, I'll tell you now." She grabbed Aisha's arm and the two started walking back up the stairs to the kitchen. "We've got a lot to catch up on."

**a/n-this chapter was basically setting the scene for the next chapter, which I'm thinking is going to be Christmas. hope u liked it!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

The next three weeks flew by, and soon enough, it was just a few days before Christmas. It was at this time that Trini finally approached Charlie to ask her what she wanted for Christmas.

"I don't know." Charlie said with a shrug. "Surprise me."

"Aww, come on, kid." Trini said. "Give me something to work with. What if I get you something, and you totally hate it?"

"Then I'll return it?" Charlie offered.

Trini rolled her eyes. "Yes. You'll return it, and then pick out something new for yourself that you do want. It would just save me a lot of trouble if you told me what you wanted right now."

Charlie was silent for a moment as her gaze fell back down to the book she had been reading before Trini had come up to her.

"I know what I want." Charlie said slowly, looking back up at Trini.

"Now we're getting somewhere." Trini said.

"I want my parents to stop being friends…" Charlie told her.

"You _what_?"

"…And really become my parents." Charlie finished.

A pleased smile appeared on Trini's face at this.

"Charlie, why do you think I really invited Aisha here for Christmas?" Trini asked, holding her hand out to Charlie and helping the girl up. "Come with me. We've got some planning to do…"

Later that night, Kim was about to lock-up her studio, when her cell phone rang. Fumbling with her keys, she opened her purse and pulled it out.

"Hello?" She said.

"Do you have Charlie?" Tommy asked without preamble. "I haven't seen her all day, and I wasn't sure if she was going to stay with you and Trini tonight."

"Charlie went out with Trini and Aisha." Kim said after a moment. "I think Jason went with them, too. Jason wanted Charlie there because he said if she ever became a ranger, then she would be red like him. And Trini and Aisha were both yellow, so he needed Charlie so he wouldn't be outnumbered."

Kim heard Tommy chuckle softly as she turned the key in the lock.

"Yep." Tommy said. "That sounds just like Jason. So, what are you doing tonight, then?"

"I don't know." Kim replied. "I didn't have any plans. I should probably spend some time wrapping some presents. Why? What are you doing?"

"Nothing." Tommy replied shortly. Then, "Hey why don't we go see a movie?"

Kim was silent for a moment, pondering his offer. Then a smile appeared on her face that Tommy obviously couldn't see.

"That sounds wonderful." She told him.

"Great. I'll pick you up at eight-thirty."

"See you then." Kim said.

"Bye."

Kim snapped her phone shut and threw it back into the jumble of things that was her purse, with a triumphant grin on her face. Things were finally starting to look up.

"We need a plan." Jason said seriously, as he gazed over the pizza at the three people before him.

"I get that part." Charlie told him. Then she looked around at her surroundings. "But why are we in your dojo's office?"

Jason rolled his eyes at her. "Tommy and Kimmy won't find us here. This needs to be a secret."

"Speak for yourself, blabbermouth." Trini muttered.

Jason chose to ignore her, but now Aisha had a question.

"Why did we get so much pizza?" She asked curiously. "It's not as if Rocky is going to be here, right?"

"Yeah." Trini chimed in. "Why do we have so much food? You weren't the one who paid for all of this, you know."

Before Jason could answer, however, the four of them heard the unmistakable sound of the front door opening, and more than one person entering.

"I know those voices." Aisha said slowly, as the undecipherable sounds of a conversation reached their ears. She turned to Jason, a huge grin spreading across her face. "Is that…?"

He nodded. And just as he was doing so, four people entered the room.

"Rocky!" Aisha said excitedly, throwing herself out of the chair she had been seated in, and into Rocky's arms.

Zack, Adam, and Tanya all sat on the couch, which was against the wall next to Jason's desk, while Rocky sat in the only remaining chair, next to Aisha's.

"Now that we're all here," Jason began, looking around at the assembled group, "We're going to need a plan. Getting Tommy and Kimmy back together is going to be a bit difficult."

Trini glanced at Aisha as he spoke. Aisha gave her a slight nod, and Trini faced the whole group with a grin on her face.

"We think we might have some ideas…"

"I had fun tonight." Tommy said as he drove Kim home after the movie.

Kim smiled at him. "Me too. We should do it again some time."

Tommy nodded absentmindedly as he stared at the road in front of him. They spent the rest of the short drive in a comfortable silence. When Tommy pulled into Kim's driveway, however, she didn't get out right away. Instead, she turned in her seat so that her whole body was facing him.

"Tommy," She began hesitantly, "I was thinking…"

"Yes?" Tommy prompted when she didn't continue.

"Idonotlikejustbeingfriendsanymoreitwasabadidea." Kim said all in one breath.

"Huh?" Was Tommy's reply.

Kim took a deep breath. "I don't like us being 'just friends' anymore. I think it's a bad idea."

"Why?" Tommy asked slowly.

"Come on, Tommy." Kim said, now looking exasperated. "Use your head. You know how serious we were back in high school. Now we have an eleven-year old daughter, and we're not as involved in each other's lives as we should be. Think about Charlie, here. We aren't being the best parents we could be."

Tommy was silent for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"So, what you're saying, is that we shouldn't be friends anymore because it's in Charlie's best interests?" Tommy asked.

"…Yes." Kim said slowly. "But I think that, in her best interests of course, we should maybe give a try at being more than friends, again."

"And this is only because it is in Charlie's best interests, of course." Tommy said, giving Kim a strange look.

"Well…no." Kim replied. "Unless that's how you want it to be."

"Is that how you want it to be?" Tommy asked, totally serious now.

"Is it how you want it to be?" Kim challenged.

"I asked first." Tommy protested. "You tell me."

"Fine." Kim said, glaring at him, then becoming serious again. "I guess, if you want, we can give it a shot at being more than friends again."

"I do want that." Tommy said softly, giving Kim a smile, leaning forward, so that he was a bit closer to her. "But there's just one thing: no secrets this time. I don't care that I'm a ranger again, just no secrets, please."

Kim gave him a small smile in return. "No secrets." She agreed, leaning in towards him as well.

And then, Tommy was kissing her, for the first time in over eleven years. Kim responded quickly, but after a moment she started to giggle. Tommy pulled back in surprise.

"What's so funny?" He asked suspiciously.

"Let's not tell them." Kim said, a mischievous grin on her face. "You know they're probably planning something as we speak. It was bound to happen sooner or later."

"So we're not going to tell our friends, or our daughter, that we're back together again?" Tommy said.

Kim shook her head. "Nope. We're going to let them make fools of themselves."

"So Tanya is going to call Kat, Rocky will see if Justin's busy, and I'll call Billy on the Aquaphone." Trini concluded.

The seven people before her all nodded. Her eyes glinted evilly as she smiled at them.

"Good." She said. "Then we're ready. Tommy and Kim won't know what hit them."

"They'll thank us for it one day." Tanya said.

"They had better." Charlie said sounding slightly worried.

"Don't worry about it, Char." Jason told her. "All you have to do is remember your part and, before you know it, your parents will be telling you they're finally getting married."

"It's taken long enough." Zack muttered.

"Too long." Rocky agreed. "But it'll all be over soon."

"Christmas." Trini reminded them. "Our plan goes into action on Christmas, don't forget."

"Trust me," Aisha said, "This isn't something we're going to forget." She smiled here. "Tommy and Kim belong together."

"They do." Jason agreed. "It's just our job to make sure they see that."


	14. Chapter 14

a/n-VICTORY! for the past two and a half months i have been waging a constant war with my insanely oppressive writer's block. And finally, i have won! So, I'm sorry it's taken so insanely long to update. also, i'm very sad to say it, but I think there are only going to be 2, maybe 3, chapters left, plus an epilogue. Hopefully, i'll be able to update sooner, now that the writer's block is gone. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Fourteen

It was a little after dawn on Christmas morning. Kim had been in the midst of a wonderful dream—something about cranes and falcons—when she was abruptly awoken by the sound of the house phone ringing. She rolled over and pulled the pillow over her head to try and block out the noise. After a few more rings, the answering machine picked it up.

"Hello!" Charlie's voice said enthusiastically. _"Trini, I would be much obliged if you would kindly go and wake my mother up right now. It's Christmas! And you have a kid now, mom, so no more sleeping in!"_

There was a slight pause; Charlie was probably waiting for someone to pick up the phone. Kim peeked out from under her pillow, but once the bright sunlight reached her eyes, she pulled the pillow back over them.

"Fine, I get the point. You don't care that it is your first Christmas with your only child and you have already wasted five-and-a-half hours of it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, just keep those excuses coming. Anyway, if you don't call me back within ten minutes, I'm going to have dad drive me over there so I can wake you up myself. See? For once, dad is on time with something. He's_ up early on Christmas. So that means you need to get up, too, mom. And while you're at it, make Trini and Aisha get up too. Well, then, that's all, mom. I could say more, but you obviously don't care enough because you aren't answering your phone right now. So, I'll see you in about half an hour._ Got that_? Bye now. Oh yeah… and Merry Christmas."_

"Kimberly Ann Hart," A voice said from the doorway, "You are a terrible mother."

"Go away, Trini." Kim mumbled from underneath her pillow. "I'm sleeping."

"I'm not Trini." The voice said.

Kim was silent for a moment, before rolling over and bolting up.

"Billy!" She practically screamed, jumping out of her bed and throwing her arms around the neck of the man in blue before her.

"Greetings, Kimberly." Billy said. "It's been a while."

"A while?" Kim questioned, pulling back. "Try eleven _years_. And I am not a terrible mother. Leave it to Tommy to be on time for the first thing in his life when it's going to make me look bad."

"You up, Kimmy?" Trini asked, walking into the room fully dressed. "Oh, hey Billy. Merry Christmas."

"Good morning." Billy replied a bit too cheerfully for five thirty in the morning.

"Here's the plan, Kim," Trini began, turning back to Kim now, "Billy and I are already to go, so we just need to wake up Aisha, and then we'll head over to Tommy's place, alright?"

"You're still in your pajamas." Kim stated, looking Trini and Billy up and down. "Don't we all need to get dressed before we leave?"

Trini looked at Kim as if she was crazy.

"What's the fun in opening presents if you aren't in pajamas?" Trini asked, a very serious expression on her face. "Jeez, Kim, you just want to take all the fun out of Charlie's childhood, don't you?"

As she said this, Trini turned and started walking out of the room, to go wake Aisha up. Once her back was turned, Kim stuck her tongue out at her friend and an amused grin appeared on Billy's face.

Twenty minutes later, the four of them had loaded themselves and all of the many presents into Trini's car. They pulled up in front of Tommy's house at exactly six o'clock, where they found a pajama-clad Charlie standing on the porch with a watch held up in front of her face.

"You're late." She announced once Kim had gotten out of the car.

"I am not." Kim said. "You said I had half an hour. And that was half an hour ago."

"No." Charlie said slowly, shaking her head for emphasis. "That was half an hour and twenty-six seconds ago. You're late."

Kim sighed dramatically. "Then I guess since I'm so late, we won't be able to open presents."

"No!" Charlie said again, though she said it a bit quicker this time. Charlie gave Kim a huge smile. "Who ever said you were late mom? All that matters is that you're here now…and I can finally open my presents."

Kim rolled her eyes, and held out her arms. "Come here, kid."

Charlie leapt off of the porch, and wrapped her arms around Kim's middle.

"Merry Christmas, Charlie." Kim said as she hugged her daughter.

"Merry Christmas, mom." Charlie replied.

Kim released Charlie from the hug, but still kept her arm around the girl's shoulder.

"There's someone I want you to meet." Kim told Charlie, nodding her head towards the small group of people standing in front of the car. "Hey, Billy, come here."

Once Billy was standing in front of them, Kim looked back down at Charlie.

"This is Billy, Charlie." She told her daughter. "He was the original blue power ranger, and he decided to come home for a little visit."

"Home?" Charlie questioned. "Wouldn't home be in Angel Grove?"

Billy nodded. "It is. But Kimberly was referring to my coming home to Planet Earth."

Now it was Kim's turn to nod. "Billy's been living on a planet called Aquitar."

"Oh, now I know who you are." Charlie said. "Dad and Jason talk about you all the time." She stuck out her hand now. "Pleased to meet you, Billy. I'm Charlie Oliver."

As the two shook hands, Kim smiled happily.

"Alright then, people, everyone grab a bunch of presents." Trini said. "There's a bunch here and they all need to be brought in to the house."

Dutifully, and out of fear of Trini's wrath if she wasn't obeyed, the group of people in front of the house emptied the car of the colorfully wrapped gifts and began bringing them inside. Trini brought up the rear of the procession of gifts going towards the tree, and as soon as she had placed the last package underneath it, a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the kitchen.

"Everything is in place." Jason told her in a whisper so as not to be heard, although it was unnecessary, due to the sheer volume of the noise coming from the next room. Rocky at six a.m. was one thing, but Rocky on caffeine-and probably some sugar-at six a.m. was a totally different thing. "And Justin isn't coming. He already had plans, but he says good luck."

Trini nodded. "Kat isn't coming either. Tanya said she wasn't really comfortable helping bring Tommy and Kim back together."

Jason shrugged. "It makes sense. So, everything gets put into action as soon as all of the presents are open.

Again, Trini nodded. "You know what to do then."

Jason grinned evilly. "You bet I do."

* * *

Charlie sat contentedly on the couch, between her parents, who seemed surprisingly comfortable to be sitting there together. Of course, they were _friends_ so that might be part of it, but still… 

"Hey, Kim," Trini said, "Aisha and I are going to go make some breakfast. Rocky's been complaining about being hungry, although Adam and Zack have assured me he's already eaten today."

"Sure." Kim said a shrug, while getting up from the couch. "We haven't eaten yet, either."

"Me neither." Charlie put in. She elbowed Tommy in the side. "Child neglect; some parent _you_ make."

Tommy just looked at her with raised eyebrows. "And _who_ woke me up at five o'clock this morning, insisting that we _had_ to open presents, and that there _wasn't_ time for breakfast?"

"Jason?" Charlie said innocently.

Across the room, Jason turned around at the sound of his voice.

"What are you blaming on my for now, kid?" He asked.

"Tommy's poor parenting skills." Kim replied with a grin.

"Tommy doesn't need Jason as an excuse for his parenting skills." Zack said, coming into the conversation now. "I mean just look at him, more specifically at his hair. I give you exhibit A of his amazing parenting." He shook his head. "…Letting young children play with scissors."

"You're never going to let me forget that, are you?" Tommy asked.

"No." Zack replied happily.

"Breakfast." Trini said, suddenly grabbing Kim's arm and pulling her in the direction of the kitchen.

As the two women walked away, Zack turned back to Tommy.

"So," He began, "I was talking to Jason, here, about your new team."

Tommy narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"And he was saying that the 'lab' which is underneath your kitchen, has another entrance in the woods." Zack continued without pause.

"What about it?" Tommy asked with a sigh of relief that Zack wasn't bringing up the subject of his 'color stealing again.

"Can I see it?" Zack asked, a bit too enthusiastically.

"Er…sure." Tommy said slowly.

"Great!" Zack exclaimed, standing up.

"You want to see it _now_?" Tommy said, looking at Zack as if he were crazy.

"Of course I do. There's no time like the present." Zack replied. "Now, come on, let's go."

So Tommy stood up and he led Zack out of the house. Jason followed them out of boredom, or so he claimed. Five minutes later, after a brisk walk, the three men were standing in front of the concealed entrance to the Dino Lair.

"Ahh…" Zack sighed reminiscently. "This reminds me of the good old days…you know, command centers hidden in the middle of nowhere. So, can we go in?"

Tommy nodded. "You know, we could have just gone in from the kitchen; it would have been a lot easier."

Zack brushed the comment away with a wave of his hand. "Who wants to do things the easy way?"

"After you," Jason told Tommy, ushering him towards the now-open passageway.

With a confused shake of his head, Tommy turned and walked into the dim passage. Once he got to the door that led into the lab, he stopped. Upon opening it he was about to turn around to ask Zack if he wanted to go in first, when he felt two pairs of hands pushing him from behind. Tommy thrust his hands before himself to stop his fall and as he did so, he heard the door slamming shut.

With a groan, Tommy pushed himself off of the ground and brushed his hands off on his pants.

"Told you they were planning something." Kim's voice said from behind him.

* * *

"What do you think they're saying?" Jason asked, pressing his ear against the trapdoor in the kitchen. 

"I don't know." Trini replied. "Someone forgot to plant the communicator down there so we could listen in on them."

"Sorry?" Adam offered. "It slipped my mind?"

"I'm sure." Tanya said dryly. "Because I didn't remind you about what you were supposed to do about a thousand times this morning?"

"Shh!" Charlie said suddenly, pulling back from the trapdoor. "I think they're coming."

"Unlock it," Trini told Billy quickly. "Everyone else, look innocent!"

In a scramble of activity, the kitchen's nine occupants scurried to find places to sit/unlock trapdoors forcefully barricaded with alien technology.

A minute later, the trapdoor opened and Kim and Tommy stepped out of it and into the kitchen.

"There you two are!" Aisha exclaimed. "We wondered where you were."

"Your concern is touching." Kim replied sarcastically. "I'm sure you have absolutely _no_ idea how we ended up in the lab."

"None at all." Rocky replied with a shake of his head.

"So," Trini began cheerfully, "What did the two of you talk about while you were down there?"

At this, Tommy sighed. He turned to face Kim with a serious expression on his face.

"We should tell them." He said.

Now it was Kim's turn to sigh. "I suppose you're right."

"Everyone," Tommy said, grabbing Kim's hand, "We've decided to get married."

This announcement was met with a shocked silence. Finally, Trini broke it.

"Really?" She asked excitedly.

"_No_." Kim replied. "We've only been dating for like a week. It's just too early in the relationship to be talking about marriage."

"Wait a minute…" Charlie said slowly. "You mean, you two were already dating? So we didn't have to trick the two of you into going into the lab together and then lock you in there?"

She clapped her hand to her mouth. "Oops."

"Yes." Kim replied cheerfully. "Now, how about some breakfast. I'm starving."

"Finally!" Rocky exclaimed. "I thought no one was _ever_ going to remember that!"


	15. Chapter 15

****

Chapter Fifteen

"Now remember," Charlie began, looking at her parents sternly, "Mesogog is gone now. There's nothing for you two to worry about, so you can have a nice evening all to yourselves."

"We're chaperoning the Prom." Tommy said shortly, and with a slight grimace that indicated he would rather be going anywhere else. "That's hardly what I'd call a nice evening."

"But Tom-_my_." Kim said in a whiny voice. "It's the _Prom._ We never got to go to our own prom, so you'd better enjoy this one with me." She finished with a glare.

"That's enough arguing, kids." Jason said, from his position on the couch. "And not that it's anything new for you, Tommy, but if you don't leave soon, you're going to be late."

Kim's eyes widened and she reached out and grabbed Tommy's hand. She was across the room and halfway out the door as she said, "You might not mind being late for everything, but _I_ do."

Charlie laughed as the sound of Tommy's tires screeching against the pavement reached their ears a moment later.

"Those two were made for each other." She said with a shake of her head.

Jason nodded. "Now, where did Trini get to? She came over with Kim, but that was over half an hour ago, and I haven't seen her since."

"Ugh, you're worse than dad." Charlie said. "You can't be separated from you're girlfriend for more than two seconds without whining."

"Who ever said Trini was my girlfriend?" Jason asked innocently. "I didn't."

Charlie rose an eyebrow.

"I swear!" Jason said, suddenly a bit hysterical. "She wanted to keep it a secret so Tommy and Kim wouldn't get distracted from each other. I swear I didn't tell anyone." He repeated. Then he paused. "Hey, if _I_ didn't tell anyone, then how did you know?"

"I didn't. Not until you just told me, at least." Charlie replied. "But, hey…uh…good for you two. Mom always said she thought you'd make a great couple."

Jason groaned and covered his face with his hands. "Trini's going to kill me."

"Why?" Trini's voice came from behind them. "What have you done now?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Jason said quickly. "So, how about we all go see a movie?"

Trini glared at him suspiciously.

"Fine." She said finally. "But don't think I'm going to forget this."

Charlie just rolled her eyes as she followed them out of the house. This could turn into a long night.

* * *

"Well," Kim began slowly as she sat in Tommy's car at the evening's end, "That was…interesting."

"Why?" Tommy asked, his head leaning on the steering wheel. "Why did I have to ask you to go to Prom with me?"

Kim laughed. "It wasn't that bad."

"Yes it was." Tommy insisted his voice a bit hoarse. "Why are teenagers always so surprised to find out that their teachers have social lives?"

"But Tommy," Kim said, looking at him as if he were crazy, "Don't you know that you're supposed to live in school and sleep under your desk?"

"I'd rather sleep under my kitchen." He replied his head still against the steering wheel.

"I bet you have." Kim shot back.

"I have not."

"Yes, you have."

"No, I _haven't_."

"Have too."

"Have not."

The argument went on like that for some time, before Kim finally burst out laughing for no reason, and Tommy joined in with her shortly after. After a few minutes of laughter, Tommy finally got his breathing under control again and the somber expression that appeared on his face made Kim stop, too.

"What's wrong?" Kim asked him tentatively.

"Everything was supposed to be perfect tonight." Tommy said, finally lifting his head up. "But first we were late for that stupid prom, and then there was that whole fiasco there about me actually bringing a date…I don't even want to know what's going to happen next."

"Well," Kim began, "At least you didn't say nothing else could possibly go wrong, because then it would. And I'm sure that's not what you want."

"No, it isn't." Tommy muttered softly.

"So," Kim said after a moment of silence, "Are we going to leave, or are we going to spend the night in your car in the high school parking lot?"

"We're leaving." Tommy said quickly as he shoved the key into the ignition.

Kim laughed silently to herself as Tommy drove as fast as the speed limit allowed, in order to get out of the parking lot and away from Reefside High as fast as possible. He sped up once they were past the school safety zone and didn't slow down again until he was well away from the school. Which explained how they were in front of her house in less then ten minutes.

Just as Tommy was turning the engine off, realization dawned on him.

"You drove to my house." He stated. "Your car is still there."

"With Trini." Kim added. "I suppose if I gave you my keys and you didn't lose them on the drive back to your house, you could give them to her and she could drive my car home."

Tommy narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm not _that_ bad."

"Uh-huh, sure." Kim replied, but she was smiling. "Just take me back to your house. I'm sure Charlie will still be up, anyway, and she'll want to hear all about our exciting evening."

Tommy frowned as he started his car again. "If there is one thing I don't want to do _ever_ its talk about tonight ever again. In fact," He continued as he began the drive back to his house, "I may have to swear you to secrecy."

Kim smiled again, but didn't reply. Indeed, the two spent the rest of the car ride in a companionable silence. Although, as Tommy's car inched closer and closer to it's destination, a sweaty sheen appeared on his skin, which Kim didn't notice as she had contented herself with looking out of the window as the scenery passed. Finally, they reached Tommy's house, where practically all of the lights were on. By this time, Tommy was visibly paler and he seemed nervous, as if in anticipation of something yet to come.

Tommy and Kim got out of the car together, but as Kim was about to walk up the front porch to the door, Tommy grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Let's not go in just yet." He told her. "I want to prolong having to talk to Jason about this for as long as possible. Here," He led her around the house and towards the forested area behind it, "Let's go for a short walk in here."

As Tommy and Kim reached the shelter of the trees, Tommy reached out and grasped Kim's hand in his own.

"I was thinking," Kim began at the exact same time Tommy said, "Kim, I've been wanting to talk to you about something."

Each looked sheepishly at the other.

"You first." They both said.

"No you." Each insisted.

A grin appeared on Kim's face. "I haven't done that in a while."

"Tell me about it." Tommy said, returning her grin. "So, what were you going to say."

"It's alright, you can go first." Kim replied.

"No, I insist." Tommy said. Kim rolled her eyes.

"I was thinking," She said again, no longer looking at Tommy, instead focusing on the dark shapes of the trees she could barely make out in the darkness. "Maybe, since things are going so well now, with us and the rangers, now that Mesogog is gone, we could, maybe move in together.

"And," She continued, not giving Tommy a chance to reply. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I think you're quite close to losing a roommate anyway." Finally looking back to his face and seeing a questioning look there she rolled her eyes. "Jason. Am I the only one who's noticed him and Trini sneaking around behind our backs all the time?"

"I've been wondering where he disappears to." Tommy said thoughtfully, but then he focused on Kim's face. "But I think Charlie would like it if you moved in with us…and so would I. Besides," he added, encouraged by the smile on Kim's face, "This kind of has to do with what I wanted to ask you."

"And what was it you wanted to ask me, Dr. Oliver?" Kim asked him.

"Well," Tommy said slowly, unconsciously reaching his hand up and scratching his head nervously, "I've been thinking lately, well, Charlie was the one who got me thinking about it, really." He stopped, and turned so that he could face Kim full on. "Did you know that she told Trini the only thing she wanted for Christmas was for you and I to 'really' be her parents?"

"That must have been what got them hooked on that idea of trying to get us back together." Kim muttered. She gave a theatrical sniff. "They didn't think we could do it on our own."

Tommy nodded. "And that really got me thinking…Kim, what happened in the first place that we couldn't _really_ be her parents?"

"We grew apart." Kim said softly. "You got caught up in being a ranger. I…forgot how much you cared about me and would do anything for me."

Tommy nodded again, now taking both of Kim's hands into his own.

"I have no doubts that that will ever happen again, but I still want to make it impossible." Tommy said slowly.

"What are you trying to say?" Kim asked after a slight pause.

"What I'm trying to say, and it's taking me forever to do it, is that I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you," He sank down so that he was balanced on one knee. "Kimberly Hart, will you marry me?"

"I-what?"

"Will you marry me?" Tommy repeated.

"Really?" Kim asked, looking a bit suspicious. "You aren't just asking me because you feel like you have to, because of Charlie?"

"Were you not just listening to anything I just said to you?" Tommy questioned. "I love you, Kim, and I never should have let you go like that eleven years ago."

Kim smiled. "Then yes, Tommy, I will marry you."

* * *

Charlie had had an interesting night. After her parents had left, she, Trini, and Jason had gone to see a movie, and after that they'd gone out to dinner. Once they'd come home from that, they'd sat down in front of the t.v. and watched another movie, which Charlie had fallen asleep during. Somewhere towards the end of the movie, Charlie had woken up to see both Trini and Jason asleep on the couch. With a slight smile and a roll of her eyes, Charlie had covered them with a blanket before proceeding to her room.

Now she was peacefully sleeping in her room, getting some much-needed rest after a long day. But that day wasn't yet over.

Kim was silent as she opened the door to Charlie's room, turned the light on, and tiptoed silently across the floor to the bed, where her daughter lay sleeping, with Tommy close behind her.

"Charlie?" Kim said softly, as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "Charlie, honey, wake up."

"Wassamatter?" Charlie asked groggily as she slowly sat up with a yawn. "Somethin' happen?"

"Your dad and I wanted to tell you something." Kim replied, glancing at Tommy, who was seated on the other edge of Charlie's bed.

"We were talking earlier tonight," He began and Kim rolled her eyes, "And we decided that we're going to kick Jason out so your mom can move in here with us."

"But first, we're going to get married." Kim added.

"Really?" Charlie demanded, sitting up a bit straighter and now fully alert. "You're really going to get married?"

Tommy nodded as Kim said, "We really are."

A huge grin appeared on Charlie's face at this. "So we're going to be a real family."

"Yes we are." Tommy said.

"But we'll talk more about it in the morning." Kim said now. "You go back to sleep. We just wanted to tell you now, so you would know first."

"Thank you." Charlie said as she sank back down on to her pillows with another yawn. "Good night, mom. 'Night dad."

"Good night Charlie." Tommy replied as he was leaving the room.

"And sweet dreams." Kim added as she turned the light off again and also left the room, shutting the door behind her.

As they left, Charlie snuggled deeper under her blanket, the grin never leaving her face.

__

'We're going to be a real family.'

Was the thought she repeated again in her head as she drifted back to sleep.

**a/n-sadly, i must again tell you that there is probably going to be only one more chapter, plus an epilogue. although, as i was thinking about how to write the next chapter, i realized it might have to be made into two. but no promises. hope you liked the chapter.**


	16. Chapter 16

****

Chapter Sixteen

"Is it possible for one person to own this much stuff?" Tommy asked no one in particular as he tried to maneuver in between the many stacks of boxes in order to reach the kitchen table and his breakfast.

"Obviously." Charlie's voice answered from somewhere within the kitchen. "Seeing as all of this stuff is mom's."

"Charlie?" Tommy said, looking around the room. "Where are you?"

"Right here." Charlie said, stepping out from behind one of the many piles just as Kim walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning Charlie, Tommy." She said. "Hey, Char, Trini's waiting for you out front. She said that you were helping her and Jason at the dojo today."

"Oh, I did say that, didn't I?" Charlie asked nonchalantly, avoiding Tommy's gaze. "Well then, bye mom, dad. Have a nice day, you two."

"Ditcher." Tommy muttered as the girl ran from the room. Kim looked at him strangely. "What? She just got out of having to spend the day helping you pack up all of my stuff and unpack all your stuff."

Kim rose an eyebrow.

"What?"

Kim just shook her head. "Tommy, Tommy, Tommy. I can see how our years apart have affected you. I think, and I'm sure you'd agree with me, you're just lucky I don't want to go shopping…yet. _And_ you don't have to do a single thing for the wedding, except get a tux and show up on the day of it. Now, let's start with the easy stuff-"

"There's _easy_ stuff?" Tommy muttered.

"We have to go up to the attic and make sure there's enough room for the stuff I want to put up there." Kim continued as if she hadn't heard him.

"How much stuff needs to go up there, exactly?" Tommy asked as he followed Kim out of the kitchen and up to the attic.

Kim shrugged. "Just some old gymnastics stuff. You know awards and all that. It's stuff I want to keep, but I obviously won't need it out for everyday use."

When Tommy and Kim got up to the attic, it was to find that there was hardly any room for them to walk up there.

"Oh, so this is where I put all of the stuff from my parent's house in Angel Grove." Tommy said, inspecting one of the boxes. "I guess we should go through all of this. I doubt I'll need most of it now."

So they spent the next fifteen minutes or so in silence, looking through the boxes of old keepsakes, until Kim let out a gasp.

"What is it?" Tommy asked, hurrying towards her.

Kim was sitting cross-legged in front of a box marked 'Charlie' in what he recognized, after a short moment, as his mother's handwriting.

"What is it?" Tommy repeated sitting down beside her.

"Look at this." Kim said softly, handing him a file folder.

Tommy accepted the folder and opened it. The first thing on the stack of papers was a rectangle smaller than the average sheet of paper; it was a birth certificate. He glanced at the name on it. It was Charlie's.

"What about it?" He asked, looking up at Kim. "I knew this thing was up here somewhere; mom was always so organized. You know, I had to use Charlie's adoption papers to register her for school, because I couldn't find this thing."

"Look at it again, Tommy." Kim said, still in a hushed tone.

With a small shrug, Tommy glanced back down at the piece of paper and this time something caught his eye that he hadn't noticed before.

"That…That's my name." He said softly. "They put my name…Why does it say my name as the father?"

Kim rolled her eyes at this. "That's kind of obvious: because you _are_ her father. But…I didn't know they put the names of her birth parents on it…"

"What do you mean?" Tommy asked, looking back up at his fiancé.

"It wasn't until about two days after Charlie was born that I decided to give her up." Kim said slowly. "I knew, deep down, that I couldn't keep her, but I still filled out all of the paperwork the hospital gave me…except for her name. After I made my choice, I thought they'd put her adoptive parent's names on it."

They were both silent for a few moments.

"But it's here." Tommy said suddenly.

Kim looked at him questioningly.

"It's here, with all of the stuff I brought from my parent's house…after they died." Tommy clarified. "It's in this file of stuff full of my mom's handwriting. They knew I-we were Charlie's birth parents…"

"And they never said anything?" Kim asked, looking confused. "But if they knew the whole time…"

"They were protecting you." Tommy said softly, looking at Kim. "They always liked you. Of course, after we…broke up, that changed a bit—very overprotective, those two. I could tell there was a change in them after that, not that I paid much attention to it. But after they brought Charlie home…I don't know, they just seemed the same as they always were, before the letter."

"They understood my reasons." Kim stated. "They knew the truth about why I broke up with you." A small smile appeared on her face. "You-and Charlie for a while-had the best parents, Tommy. I don't think I ever told you-I'm sorry about what happened to them. I was at the funeral, you know, but I stayed at the back, I wanted to avoid the weirdness of seeing you there."

"I knew you where there." Tommy replied an identical small grin on his face. "Charlie told me. She mentioned your name when I asked her why she wasn't with Trini anymore." Tommy continued at her questioning look. "Charlie had been hanging out with Trini the whole time, and then she just sort of appeared by me and Jason."

"With Trini…" Kim repeated thoughtfully, her expression looked concentrated. Then a huge grin broke out on her face. "I remember her; she was that adorable little girl who stuck to Trini like a shadow. Wow, who could've known I was looking at _my_ little girl?"

"My parents." Tommy stated shortly, looking back down at the birth certificate in his hands. "I still can't get over the fact that they actually knew, but didn't say anything. You know, in a way, I kind of wish they had."

"Why?"

Tommy looked wistfully at Kim. "Because then I would have come to my senses and actually gone after you, rather than have our daughter do it ten years later." His gaze dropped back down to the papers in his hands, but almost immediately he felt her hand underneath his chin, lifting his face back up to the same level as hers.

"Don't think about what could have been, Tommy." Kim said softly. "Just think about how things turned out, for the better. We're both here today, alive, well, and happy. Not to mention we both have successful careers, _and_," She added pointedly, "We're about to get married."

"That we are." Tommy said, his lips twisting up into a small smile.

"Of course," Kim began pointedly, "Once we get married, we might not be living together if we don't get this mess sorted out so that I can actually move in."

"Of course you'd think of a way to bring it back to _that_." Tommy said with a scowl.

Kim just laughed.

* * *

****

Three Months Later

"I'm allowed to be nervous, right?" Kim asked anxiously, smoothing her hands over her white dress as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"Of course you are, mom." Charlie replied.

"I think we'd be worried if your weren't." Trini added from behind Kim, whose hair she was doing. "But you don't have a thing to worry about Kimmy, everything is in order; your wedding day is going to be perfect."

"And on the plus side," Charlie cut in, "There aren't going to be any monster attacks, or anything like that."

Kim narrowed her eyes at her daughter through the mirror. "You better not have just jinxed everything."

Charlie just gave her a wide smile.

Before anyone could say anything else, however, there was a knock at the door and Aisha walked in moment later in long yellow dress identical to Trini's.

"Everyone's here." She announced. "Billy is just getting the Aquitians settled in right now."

"Is-Is my…" Kim trailed off, looking at Aisha questioningly in the mirror.

Aisha shook her head. "Your mother isn't here, Kim, I'm sorry."

But Kim was shaking her head. "Don't be. I didn't really expect her to show up. I only invited her because I felt like I had to, she is my mother…or was."

"Who needs her?" Trini asked, trying to lighten the mood. "You have me."

"And me!" Charlie chimed in. "And Aisha, and Rocky, and Adam, and Zack, and Billy, and Kat…and a bunch of other people…and soon, you'll have dad, too."

Kim smiled softly. "You're right, I've got everyone I need."

"Done." Trini announced, taking a step back from Kim, who took a moment to admire her image in the mirror.

"Now," She said, standing up, "Let's get going. We have a wedding to get to. And I, for one, am not going to be late."

"Yeah, but dad probably is." Charlie muttered as she followed her mother out of the house.

"Not if he values his life." Aisha told the girl. "Trust me, he knows that if he's late, Kim _will_ kill him."

"You bet I will." Kim called over her shoulder as she got into the limousine waiting in front of the purple house that now belonged to Trini and Jason. "Now you three, _get in_."

* * *

Kim was radiant with joy as she surveyed the scene before her.

She was standing at the edge of the dance floor, and not too far away she could see Jason with his gold and red striped tie dancing energetically with Trini. And right next to them was Zack with Charlie, whom he had persuaded to dance with him. Charlie laughed as her pink dress with red trim swirled out around her.

A few feet away from them, Trent and Kira danced together, seemingly lost in a world of their own. Close by were Andros and Ashley, and Karone and Zhane. Beyond them Billy was attempting to show Cestria how to dance, apparently they'd never heard of it on Aquitar. Rocky and Aisha were at the other end of the floor, right next to Adam and Tanya. There were others dancing as well-all former rangers come to celebrate the union of two of the originals.

"Your beverage, Mrs. Oliver." A voice said from behind her.

Kim turned and accepted the drink. "Why thank you, Mr. Oliver."

"You know," Tommy said with a sigh, "If we're married now, you're really doing to have to get it right. It's _Doctor_ Oliver."

Kim giggled. "I'm sure I'll get it down one of these days."

Charlie smiled as she observed them from her position on the dance floor.

It had taken a while, but her parents had finally done it. They had been apart for so long, but they had found each other again. And now they would be together forever. All three of them. Of course, if Charlie had anything to say about it, there might not always be just three of them…

**a/n-oh my god, i think i cried as i wrote this. only the epilogue left now, people. sigh i think i really will cry now. just so you know, i was going to put the wedding in, but i'm absolute garbage at stuff like that, so i thought i would spare you all. i hope everyone liked the chapter.**


	17. Epilogue

**How Are We Related Again?**

**Epilogue**

**The Not-to-Distant Future**

"Bridge!" Z exclaimed, bursting into the green ranger's room, closely followed by Syd. "You'll never guess who we just saw."

"Who?" Bridge asked disinterestedly, looking up from the toast he had been about to eat.

"Guess." Syd commanded.

Bridge shrugged, he'd much rather be eating his toast. "Commander Cruger."

Z and Syd both shook their heads.

"Where's Sky when you need him?" Syd asked with a sigh of exasperation.

"Right behind you." A voice replied. "Why do you want to know?"

"You'll never guess who we just saw going into Commander Cruger's office." Syd said excitedly, as she turned around to face the blue ranger.

Sky rose his eyebrows. "Do I really want to know?"

"Yes." Z stated seriously. "Trust us. You, of all people, would want to know."

"Then just tell me who it was." Sky said.

"He's called 'the greatest ranger ever.'" Syd offered. "You've hero-worshipped him since time began."

"_No_." Sky said softly. "You're joking. He-He's not here…Not…"

"Thomas Oliver, original Green and White Mighty Morphin' Ranger, White Ninjetti Ranger, Red Zeo Ranger, First Red Turbo Ranger, and Black Dino Thunder Ranger?" Z asked. She nodded. "Yep. It's him. Syd and I saw him walking with some woman and a young boy, into Commander Cruger's office."

"Do you think he has kids?" Bridge asked. "It would be so cool if they came here."

"B-Squad," said Commander Cruger's voice over their communicator's, "Please report to my office immediately."

As one, the four rangers assembled looked at each other.

"Do you think…?" Syd said.

Sky nodded quickly. "Let's go."

A few minutes later, the four found themselves outside of their commander's office, where they joined Jack, who was pacing nervously in front of the door. He looked up when the other four appeared.

"He made me wait until you guys got here." Jack said, as he stopped and knocked on the door.

"Come in." A voice called from the inside, and the door slid open.

The B-Squad rangers stepped into the office, but stopped when they found themselves facing their commander, who had his back to the three people sitting in chairs that were pulled up in front of his desk.

"Rangers," Cruger began, "I'd like you to meet a few people." He nodded at the man sitting before him. "This is Dr. Tommy Oliver. I believe you've studied his history at the academy. And this is his wife, Kimberly Oliver. You've learned about her as well: the former Kimberly Hart. And their son, Luke."

Tommy nodded his head at the five rangers before him, his lips pressed into a tight frown. Kimberly didn't even acknowledge them, a look of shock on her face. As for Luke, he stood up and shook all of their hands. Although not once did even a faint smile appear on his face.

"I have asked you to be here, Rangers, because you were all directly involved in the matter that brings the Oliver's here today." Cruger continued.

"What matter is that, sir?" Sky asked, his tone business-like.

"It isn't a 'matter.'" Kimberly said suddenly. "She was our _daughter_!"

"…I'm sorry, ma'am." Sky said, looking confused.

"I think I should explain." Tommy said suddenly, looking at Commander Cruger.

"If you're up to it." He replied.

Tommy stood then, and faced the rangers.

"We are here today," Tommy began, pacing in front of the line of five, "Because you recently…apprehended our daughter. Commander Cruger felt it was best for us to hear the news in person, but there are some things that we felt we needed to hear from the five of you, directly."

"If I might ask, sir," Jack said, when Tommy paused, "Who exactly is your daughter?"

A grim sort of smile passed over Tommy's face at that question.

"Then there _are_ still some things I have to be proud of her for." He muttered. "She was ten when she promised to keep my identity a secret." He stopped in his pacing, and stood in front of the rangers with a straight back and an unreadable expression. They all straightened up a bit under his gaze.

"My daughter," He began, he glanced at his wife, whose expression was just as unreadable as his, "_Our_ daughter, is Charlize Renee Oliver. But I'm sure the five of you know her as Charlie." He paused. "Or the A-Squad Red Ranger, whichever one works."

When he said this, identical looks of shock appeared on each of the S.P.D. ranger's faces.

"Charlie is your _daughter_?" Z asked incredulously.

Tommy's eye gave an involuntary twitch.

"You could say that." He said slowly. "She turned her back on us, though. She abandoned everything we ever stood for."

"Jason was so proud." Kimberly said suddenly, standing next to her husband. "He helped raise her for half of her life. And he helped her train so that she would be accepted here. And then Charlie became the first female red ranger, ever. Jason was so proud of our daughter, but she wasn't thinking about that when she joined forces with the very thing we swore to fight, was she?"

Kimberly paused here for a moment, her expression softening, as if she was remembering something.

"I sacrificed everything for my daughter." Kim said softly. "I already wasn't a ranger anymore, but then I gave up my dream to make sure she would be a healthy baby. I made the hardest decision of my life, just so she could be happy. I gave my baby up so she could live a better life than I could offer. And years later, she was the one who figured out we were related. She was the one who brought this family back together again. And now she's gone!"

With that final word, Kimberly broke out in tears, and collapsed into her husband's arms.

"B-But she isn't dead." Z put in, sounding a bit nervous. "We didn't kill her, or her team. They are just in confinement."

"We just need to know one thing." Tommy told the rangers, over Kim's head. "Was there anything that happened, when you were with A-Squad, that you didn't tell anyone? Anything at all?"

Jack shook his head. "It's all in the report, sir."

Tommy sighed defeatedly.

"Then you may go, Rangers." Commander Cruger told them.

Once they were out of the office, and out of hearing range, Z turned to her teammates.

"Well, that was strange." She commented. "So, Sky, is he still your hero?"

Sky narrowed his eyes at her. "Tommy Oliver is the greatest ranger ever. His daughter has nothing to do with that."

"But she was his legacy." Syd said softly. "Didn't you hear anything Kimberly said? She sacrificed everything for her daughter, and Charlie just turned her back on all of that. How could someone do something like that?"

"I don't get it." Bridge agreed. "Charlie was the legacy of two of the original power rangers. She was the leader of A-Squad, and the first female red ranger. Why would she throw all of that away?"

Everyone was silent for a moment, before Jack gave a shrug of his shoulders.

"I guess we'll never know," He said slowly, "She's going to be in confinement for a long time."

Back in the office, Tommy sighed once the five rangers had obediently left the room. Once the door was closed again, however, he released Kim from his arms and turned back to face Cruger.

"I'm sorry it had to end like this, Doggie." Tommy told him. "Things could have been better."

Cruger shook his head at this. "It's just the way things worked out, Tommy. I'm sorry to see Charlie go, to tell you the truth. She was one of my best cadets, ever."

"And she gets it from me." Kim said, glaring pointedly at her husband, all traces of tears gone from her face.

"And who was the one who raised her for most of her life?" Tommy retorted.

"You're sure you'll be able to get her transport to Aquitar?" Kim asked, turning back to Cruger and ignoring Tommy. "And they won't be suspicious of her or anything? And no one else will know about her?"

Cruger nodded. "It's all taken care of. The Aquitian Rangers were honored to be given the chance to serve with the daughter of two of Earth's finest."

Everything was silent for a moment in the office, until Luke decided to speak up for the first time since arriving there.

"Charlie really didn't do anything bad though, right?" He questioned both Cruger and his parents. "It was all acting, like you planned? Charlie didn't betray anyone?"

Cruger nodded. "Your sister took on one of the hardest missions possible for any ranger; she had to go against everything she was ever taught."

"But what about the rest of her team—of A-Squad?" Luke pressed. "I know they aren't going to Aquitar with her."

Here, Cruger shook his head sadly.

"Unfortunately, Charlie was given this mission because of suspicion's she brought to me." He said. "She knew the others were plotting something. Charlie only joined forces with Gruumm on my orders. As for the others, they'll be confined for a while; they really did do what they were accused of. We set up this meeting to make sure that Charlie didn't let anything slip that she was acting the whole time, when she was around the B-Squad."

Tommy glanced down at his watch now.

"I'm sorry Doggie, but we should be going now. Everyone is coming over to say good-bye to Charlie. But we'll keep in touch."

"Please tell her how proud I am of her." Cruger requested.

Tommy nodded as the Oliver family, minus one, stood up and left the office.

* * *

"-And you should have seen the blue ranger's face when mom said that." Luke said, bursting into laughter. "He called you a 'matter' and mom got all up in his face about how you were a real person…and it was just so funny."

An amused grin passed over Charlie's face as she listened to her brother's story.

"Sky…being corrected about something to do with ranger business…" Charlie shook her head, her grin still in place. "Now that is something I'd pay big money to see."

It was the middle of the night, and brother and sister were sitting up talking, reminiscing about their childhood, and, most importantly for Charlie, talking about the day's events.

"Did they seem upset that their fellow rangers had betrayed them?" Charlie asked suddenly.

Luke shrugged. "I think they were a bit overwhelmed at meeting mom and dad, and learning you were their daughter. But otherwise, I think they were just confused about why you would, as dad put it, 'abandon everything we ever stood for.'"

"Dad really said that?" Charlie said, with a raised eyebrow, while trying to keep a straight face.

Luke nodded and Charlie rolled her eyes.

"I bet he's still trying to get back at me for cutting his hair off when I was five."

Luke grinned. "Jason was telling me that story earlier, when everyone else was over. I can't believe dad's hair used to be that long."

Charlie laughed. "Why do you think I cut it off?"

Luke laughed along with her, but when he spoke again he was suddenly serious.

"I'm going to miss you, Charlie." He said. "You know that, right?"

"'Course I know that." Charlie replied. "And Luke, I'll miss you, too. You're my annoying little brother, I have to miss you."

"And you're my bossy older sister, whom everyone thinks is a criminal." Luke shot back cheerfully.

"Hey." Charlie said, holding her hand up. "We're related, aren't we? Maybe that means you're destined to be a criminal, too."

"I hope not." A voice said from the doorway.

Luke and Charlie both jerked around at the sound of the voice to see Kimberly standing there in her bathrobe, looking amused at her children's reactions.

"Jeez! Mom, you scared me!" Luke exclaimed. "How long have you been standing there?"

"So, the blue ranger is really scared of me?" Kim questioned, walking into Charlie's room and sitting on the bed, in between her two children.

"Yeah." Luke said. "Didn't you see his face? Ah, I wish I'd had a camera with me or something."

"Why do I always miss everything?" Charlie asked no one in particular. "First it was dad proposing to mom, and now it's Sky being told off by the first pink ranger."

"I wasn't there when dad proposed." Luke said. "And _you_ got to be at their wedding, so I _guess_ we're even."

"That doesn't count." Charlie informed her brother. "You weren't at their wedding because you weren't _born_ yet."

"I can't believe the two of you are still arguing about that." Kim said, shaking her head in amusement.

"What can we say? We take after dad." Charlie said with a shrug. "We just don't know when to give up."

"I do too know when to give up." Another new voice contradicted from the doorway.

Kim rose an eyebrow at her husband. "Says the man who has been on four different power ranger teams, has had four different colors," She paused, "And has a strange obsession with dinosaurs."

"She does have a point, dad." Luke said. "You are rather obsessed with them."

"Not to mention the fact that, when I studied your history at the Academy, you were always referred to as 'the greatest ranger ever.'" Charlie added.

"Fine, I give up." Tommy said, throwing his hands up in defeat. "You're right, I don't know when to give up."

"Our point exactly, dad." Charlie said. "I mean, come on, look at you right now, for example. Even after you say that you give up, you still won't let the matter just drop."

"Shouldn't you be sleeping now, anyway?" Tommy asked, trying to change the subject.

"I haven't had a bedtime in _years_, dad." Charlie replied.

"And neither have I." Luke added quickly.

"But still, you should be trying to get some sleep, Charlie." Kim said. "You'll have to up bright and early. The Aquitians said they would be ready to leave by eight."

"And Billy said he'd meet you when you get to Aquitar." Tommy added.

Charlie heaved a fake sigh. "Fine. I'll go to bed, then. Everyone, out of my room."

Kim gave her daughter one last hug, before getting up and walking towards the door, where she grabbed Tommy's hand.

"Night, Charlie." Luke said, standing up now as well.

"Good night Luke." Charlie said, lying down and stretching out on her bed. "And turn the lights off on your way out."

Once Luke got to the door, Tommy and Kim turned around and left. Luke followed close behind.

"Hey, dad, do you think we could repaint Charlie's room once she's gone?" Charlie heard Luke say before he shut the door. "Pink is such a girly color." Then, "_Ow_ mom, what was _that_ for?"

Charlie smiled to herself as she lay in darkness. Her last thought before drifting off to sleep was that she would miss her family so much once she was gone.

* * *

The next morning, as promised, Charlie was up bright and early. When she asked where the Aquitians had landed their ship, Tommy replied that it was in the woods, and someone would come to get her when they were ready to leave.

And, soon enough, that time came. When a knock sounded on the wood of the kitchen door leading into the backyard, Kim turned to face the sink so that Charlie couldn't see the tears that were forming in her eyes and Tommy stood up to open the door.

"See ya' Luke." Charlie said, standing up and grabbing her duffel bag from the floor. She wasn't bringing much with her; Billy had said Earth clothing didn't hold up well on Aquitar. "Don't you dare step a foot in my room while I'm gone."

"Why would I do that?" Luke asked innocently.

"Gee, I have no idea." Charlie replied sarcastically, turning to face the sink, and her mother.

"Promise me you'll be careful." Kim said, throwing her arms around Charlie. "I don't want anything to happen to you for real this time."

"I'll be fine, mom. I promise." Charlie insisted. She pulled out of the death grip Kim had her in, and smiled at her. "Besides, if anything does happen to me, it'll finally be your chance to get back at Billy for calling you a terrible mother."

A small smile lit up Kim's face. "I've been waiting years for that to happen." She looked sternly at Charlie now. "But don't think that's an excuse for any bad behavior, missy."

"Mo-_om_." Charlie groaned. "I'm a responsible adult now. Remember?"

A snort of laughter escaped Luke, and Charlie hit him on the back of the head.

"Bye, mom." Charlie said, giving Kim one last quick hug, before turning to face the door where Tommy was standing.

Tommy held out his arms and Charlie wrapped her own arms around his middle, like she was a little girl again.

"Make me proud." Tommy whispered, echoing the very words he had said to her the day Charlie had left for the S.P.D. Academy.

A smile spread across Charlie's face.

"Don't worry, I will."

Tommy released her and took a step backwards so that he was standing next to Kim.

"Go on." He said, jerking his head towards the door. "They're waiting for you."

Charlie took one last look at the kitchen, and her family, before giving a final parting wave and walking out of the door. Once outside of the door two people who were unmistakably Aquitian met her.

"This way." One of them said, gesturing towards the forest. "Our ship is in here."

Charlie nodded and the three set off towards the wooded area. It wasn't until they were within the protection of the trees that anyone spoke again.

"So, we heard you were related to Thomas Oliver and Kimberly Hart." One of the rangers said. It was the same one who had spoken before, and he had curiosity written all over his face.

"Yeah," The other one chimed in, "So, how are you related to them, again?"

A proud grin appeared on Charlie's face.

"I am their daughter."

**THE END**

**a/n-I just want to thank everyone who has been reading since the beginning. And I especially want to thank every single on eof my reviewers, you guys have me helped me more with this story than you know. I really hope everyone enjoyed the epilogue-and the story as a whole. Thanks again, to everyone.**


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